A group of rioters attacked a police station in Hotan city in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region with axes, choppers, daggers and explosives, killed four people, including a police officer and set the building on fire on July 18.

Among those killed were two of the eight people taken hostage by the rioters. Police freed the six hostages after launching counter-operations about 90 minutes later.

After torching the police station building, the rioters raised a banner with the words "holy war", which has been used as a pretext to commit many crimes and atrocities in China and other countries. Using "holy war" or "jihad" to launch terrorist attacks is tantamount to making a mockery of people's beliefs.

In the past 20 years, the three evil forces of separatism, extremism and terrorism have grown in central Asia, and terrorists have launched several attacks in the region. Xinjiang, which is home to many ethnic groups, witnessed its most deadly attack on July 5, 2009.

In the intervening two years, the local government has made great efforts to help recover the local economy and improve living standards. With help from 19 provinces and cities across the country, Xinjiang has seen satisfying results.

A blue paper on West China's development, released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences this week, says the central government will continue to stimulate Xinjiang's economic growth over 10 years by accelerating urbanization and opening the market further. But the three evil forces threaten to derail that process and undermine people's pursuit of a peaceful and harmonious life.

Terrorism has long been recognized as a threat to humankind, especially after the Sept 11, 2001, attack on the Unites States. Despite that, the double standard practiced by some Western powers has been preventing many countries threatened by terrorism to form an alliance against their common enemy. Some Western media outlets have no difficulty in identifying terrorists who attack Western interests but often label those who attack other countries as "freedom fighters".

That is exactly what happened after the July 5 tragedy two years ago. And again after the July 18 terrorist attack in Hotan, several Western media outlets selectively turned a deaf ear to the voices of reality. They simply believed what the "World Uygur Congress" said, and reported that a "peaceful protest" was "suppressed" in Hotan and advocated human rights for the terrorists.