The Chinese government has followed the principle of openness and transparency to provide assistance and convenience for reporters traveling to Xinjiang, hoping that international media could report the truth based on facts in an objective manner. However, some Western media's reports fell short of objectiveness and fairness.

More than 1,000 people were killed and injured in the violent crime and tremendous property losses were inflicted. In a number of Western media's reports, however, the violent crimes have become "peaceful demonstrations," "clashes caused by discriminative ethnic policies" and "military suppression," marking their noticeable bias. Some Western media consistently look at China through their shaded glass and distorted the facts in their reports, using misleading photos, images, details and wordings. These western media even issued distortive and false reports without on site investigations or reliable sources. They neglected the pains of numerous victims and their families, publicly or semipublicly take sides with rioters, and purge their criminal acts. This behavior indicates that they have lost the basic professional ethics that are essential for the media.

Echoing this, some Western politicians and organizations have acted hypocritically. For instance, certain governments in the West urged that "each side should exercise restraint and disclose the truth as soon as possible," while some politicians staged "protests" at various places. Some "human rights" organizations said that those detained might "face unfair treatment." They are deliberately blurring the fact, diverting the public's attention, and inciting conflicting sentiments among people.

Different media agencies and different individuals might have their own perspectives on some issues. However, if they attempt to distort the truth and disseminate false reports and commentaries by adopting double standards, it is far from fairness and objectiveness. An insight into how Western media and politicians acted when facing violent incidents in their own nations will reveal the inconsistency. In 2005, unrest occurred among ethnic minorities in suburban Paris. Western media, on the one hand, greatly condemned the violence, and on the other, strongly supported the French government to dispatch militaries to maintain order. There were no reports stating that this was the "evil consequence of long-term ethnic discrimination." Furthermore, no one called on "each side to exercise restraint." As to the Los Angeles Riots of 1992 in the US, the US government at the time used all necessary powers to restore order. For these rioters, no Western media or politicians advocated the concepts of "peace" or "human rights." The most typical example is that after the September 11 terrorist attack, the US even launched wars in the name of fighting against violent terrorist activities, and nobody stood out and called for "restraint."

Conflicts and some extreme incidents might happen in any country around the world. Neither media nor politicians should, motivated by their own interests or bias, take pleasure in the misfortune of others, and even intend to mislead and intensify the conflicts. It is against the basic principle of human ethics to express sympathy for people who violate social order and abuse violence, and disregard human rights of innocent victims and pains suffered by their relatives. In light of the global terrorism, stereotyping another country's internal affairs, using news reports as a political tool, and holding an ambiguous, self-contradicting attitude toward anti-violence and anti-terrorism, will not only harm others, but also damage themselves.

By People's Daily Online

Special report: Urumqi Riot