Photo: AFP

The US has provided support to separatist forces in China's Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong using the excuse of human rights, religion, democracy and freedom, showing double standards with regard to secessionism - supporting the territorial integrity and unification of its allies while backing secessionist movements in its rivals or adversaries, according to a report released by a Chinese university on Tuesday.

The report, titled "Between Inside and Outside, the Double Standard of the US on Counter-Secessionism," was released by the Institute for Central Asia Studies and Center for National Security Studies in Lanzhou University in Northwest China's Gansu Province. 

The report pointed out that in labeling China as a "strategic rival," the US has adopted a substantial containment strategy against China, and since 2019, it has passed a series of bills on China's Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang regions, which concern China's core interests. The US' sanctions on related issues and its public support for secession within China have paralyzed the consensus reached by China and the US, and they undermine China's interests in maintaining its domestic unity. 

Cao Wei, executive director of the national security research center of the School of Politics and International Relations in Lanzhou University, told the Global Times that one example of the US in aiding separatism in Xinjiang is the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which receives money from the US Congress. It has been found giving financial support to the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) and individuals related to the organization. 

The US Congress also held hearings for so-called victims from China's Xinjiang region, Cao said.

The scholar noted that the US' tactics showed an already "mature" pattern in backing separatists from China, especially in Xinjiang - think tanks or "scholars" manipulating reports on "oppression" in the region, media covering "sad stories of victims," and the US government or the Congress backing bills and other political interference to pressure China. 

"All these moves have been taken under the excuse of human rights, and the country has ramped up efforts in messing with China's domestic affairs in border regions," Cao said. 

US double standards on counter-secessionism Illustration: GT

 

The US intentionally blurs the boundary between human rights issues and secessionism under the banner of caring about human rights issues in Xinjiang, which actually supports separatism in the region, Cao said.

The report also mentioned that the US has taken every measure to counter domestic secessionism, including the American Civil War. It gets tough with secessionism in its own country or among its allies but applies a conniving or even supportive strategy when it comes to secessionism in its rival countries. The US has used this double standard to "maintain its global hegemony," said the report. 

The report also noted that sometimes, the US even "tries to hamper or paralyze its opponents' endeavors in countering secessionism" and it is hypocritical for the US to use human rights as political cover. "The US has become the biggest destroyer of, instead of contributor to, the contemporary international order. The US will ultimately suffer from its opportunism and egoism on secession issues."