The latest train station killings, which evidence pointed to politically motivated Xinjiang separatists, is the latest in a spate of terrorist attacks carried out by them.

It is perpetrated by non-state entities, involves violence and designed to have psychological impact far beyond the immediate victims.

It is China's "9/11," only on a smaller scale.

The latest civilian slaughter conforms with any typical terrorist attack and bears striking similarities with what happened in Boston and Nairobi, which the U.S. government condemned as terrorism without a minute's hesitation.

Behind its wording is the entrenched U.S. belief that the Xinjiang murderers were the "ethnically oppressed seeking autonomy."

Nothing, however, justifies the act of realizing political and religious motives by slaughtering the innocent.

Washington is once again playing its "counter-terrorism card." For the U.S. government and biased media like CNN, the only standard for terrorist activities is whether it happened within the territories of its own or its allies.

The U.S. government and biased media should know that their double standard on terrorism will one day backfire and hurt their own interests.