Sign of solidarity with Paris provokes online criticism of Western media
Several landmark buildings in China have been lit with the colors of the French flag to show solidarity with the victims of the Paris attacks. However, Chinese public opinion online remains divided, as many renewed criticism that Western media has a double standard when reporting on terrorism.
On Saturday, the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai joined a slew of famous buildings worldwide illuminated with blue, white and red as a gesture of grief for the victims of the Paris attacks.
The action has aroused heated discussion online. The Oriental Pearl's post about the lighting on its official Sina Weibo account has received more than 4,370 comments since Saturday.
While many Internet users voiced support for the lighting and compassion for victims, some were dissatisfied with the building's gesture, pointing out that China has not gained equal support from the West when facing terrorist attacks.
Steven Dong, a professor at the Academy of Media and Public Affairs at the Communications University of China, told the Global Times that the Oriental Pearl's move aroused much controversy because many people felt angered by the double standard adopted by the West.
"Many Chinese people expressed their anger this time because when terrorist attacks happened in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Western media did not show compassion for the innocent civilians, but used them to make an issue," said Dong. "Terrorism does not only happen in the West, but also in China, and we are allies in fighting terrorism."
Dong suggested that Internet users break away from narrow-minded patriotism and express their opinions in a more mature manner.
Many netizens also reposted a chart published in 2014 by the online affiliate of the People's Daily comparing the words used in Western media outlets to describe two events characterized as terrorist attacks: the Kunming train station attack in 2014 and the London killing of a British soldier in 2013.
On March 1, 2014, a group of assailants armed with knives attacked civilians at the railway station in Kunming, the capital of Southwest China's Yunnan Province, killing 31 people and injuring 141. A knife attack in 2013 on the streets of London left one man dead, media reports said.
Reports on the Kunming attack in Western media used words such as "knife attack," "violence," "incident" and "mass stabbing," while for the London attack, the same media outlets used words such as "terror attack," "terrorism," "long-feared attack" and "brutally murdered," according to the chart.
Reuters on Saturday quoted Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, which advocates the secession of Xinjiang, as saying that "China was using the shootings in Paris to whip up anti-Uyghur sentiment in China."
In response, Gao Cheng, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said on her Weibo account on Sunday that "the West is picking on other countries' anti-terrorism efforts while being attacked itself."
"Terrible double standard and moral superiority," Gao wrote.
