The world celebrated when President Obama announced that on May 1 U.S. Navy SEALs had killed Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. The killing of bin Laden was a major victory in the fight against terrorism, and needless to say, the world showered the victory with praise.

The Chinese communist regime, after over 10 hours of silence, had to make an official statement. The spokesperson of China’s foreign ministry said: “This is a significant event and active progress in the international counterterrorism war.” “Terrorism should be eliminated from its root and surface. Active work must be done to eliminate the soil that breeds terrorism.”

These statements may have pleased the world, but only because their meaning was not fully understood. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) ideas of counterterrorism and the “soil that breeds terrorism” are very different than what might be expected.

Counter-Terrorism

The CCP has a natural animosity to democracy, whose spread poses a major threat to its totalitarian rule of China. The profound influence of the United States’ democratic system on the world has given the CCP an increasing degree of pressure. Therefore, the CCP has always treated the United States as its enemy in China’s domestic propaganda. This causes tensions between China and the United States.

After 9/11, the United States asked the CCP for its cooperation in the global war against terror. U.S.-China relations thus changed in form from that of strategic opponents to a temporary alliance. The pressure on the CCP was suddenly released.

However, China has used the excuse of counterterrorism to mitigate the United States’ influence in Asia. The CCP has been actively building the mutual security compact of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). It has sought to establish a free trade zone among China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) and a China-ASEAN free trade zone. It is forming alliances with neighboring countries to block the United States in Asia.

At the same time, inside China, the CCP has been brutally suppressing freedom, democracy, human rights, and appeals for autonomy from ethnic groups. China labeled its oppression against Tibet on March 14, 2008, and against Xinjiang Province on July 5, 2009, as counterterrorism actions.

However, those who are familiar with Chinese politics know the peaceful appeals in Tibet and Xinjiang had nothing to do with terrorism. The CCP often purposely guided the peaceful appeals into violent conflicts in order to justify its suppression.

The CCP labels every element that threatens it totalitarian rule as “terrorism.” Counterterrorism in the CCP’s vocabulary is thus another word for suppressing democracy, human rights, and freedom.

The Root of Terror

Similarly, “the soil that breeds terrorism” in the CCP’s lexicon actually refers to the actions taken by the United States to safeguard human rights and universal values. For instance, the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq following Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait and the West’s recent attempt to protect the people of Libya against Gadhafi’s army are examples of “the soil that breeds terrorism.”

“The soil that breeds terrorism” might better apply to the Chinese regime.

North Korea is able to threaten the world with its nuclear weapons because of the protection it has been receiving from China. Libya, Iran, and Pakistan, all of whom support terror, all have patrons in the Chinese regime.

Bin Laden had been hiding in Pakistan for many years. It is dumbfounding that Pakistan did not know anything. Based on the historical relations between China and Pakistan, it is very difficult to rule out the possibility that China is involved.

That the U.S. Navy SEALs were able to penetrate into Abbottabad and kill bin Laden was indeed a beautiful victory against terrorism. However, the “soil that breeds terrorism” has not been eliminated. I would like to emphasize a simple fact: As long as the CCP, the largest source of terrorism, exists, peace will not befall our planet.

Dr. Sun Yanjun is an analyst of Chinese politics. Formerly an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the Capital Normal University in Beijing, in 2009 he publicly renounced the Chinese Communist Party and now lives in the United States.