For the last five months, violent riots have rocked the city of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China. Despite the activists’ claims that they are fighting for democracy, the truth is actually much more sinister. Countless examples of targeted violence and bigotry suggest that the movement is powered by a venomous hatred of mainland Chinese.

The protests began in June after the Hong Kong government was on the verge of passing an extradition bill that would formalize agreements with mainland China. The motive of the extradition bill was spurred by the coldblooded murder of a pregnant Taiwanese woman by her boyfriend, a resident of Hong Kong. The murderer even admitted his guilt but escaped to Hong Kong before the Taiwanese authorities could pursue him, and to this day he remains a free man.

Despite the fact that the Hong Kong government compromised with the rioters and withdrew the bill, the protests became more aggressive, with regular, violent attacks on mainland citizens. In one instance, a mainland Chinese reporter was physically assaulted by a mob of native Hong Kongers, demonstrating their utter disdain for freedom of the press. In another instance, a Mandarin speaker from the mainland was again violently attacked by anti-government mobs, proving that a movement founded on the premise of equality and liberty clearly doesn’t believe those values apply to their fellow citizens across the Shenzhen River.

While the rioters continue to argue that their opposition to the extradition bill is born out of a fear of the Chinese government’s separate legal system, their deafening silence regarding other current extradition crises around the world exposes their hypocrisy and double standards. The same people opposing extradition of the murderer back to Taiwan have no problem with the U.S. government forcing Canada to detain Huawei executive and Chinese citizen Meng Wanzhou on warrantless charges. Additionally, American politicians sympathetic to the Hong Kong rioters are currently spearheading the tyrannical extradition of Australian whistleblower, Wikileaks founder and human rights activist Julian Assange, from Ecuador to the UK simply because he released Hillary Clinton’s scandalous emails to the public in 2016.

Rioters proudly waved the British colonial flag during their protests despite the fact that under British rule, Hong Kong was forced at gunpoint to import opium, never experienced democracy and police brutality was rampant. By advocating for the return of foreign imperialism, the rioters have shown their true colors. Their hatred of China is the primary cause of their activism, not universal suffrage. To this day, the Hong Kong police have killed zero people. Hong Kong’s freedom index ranks third internationally, whereas the U.S. was ranked No. 13, yet American politicians continue to lecture Hong Kong on how they should manage their police⁠ — all while violent deaths of African-Americans continue to plague the black community at home.

Some protestors went so far as to put up posters at Hong Kong International University celebrating “September 18,” a horrendous event in Chinese history when Japan began its brutal invasion of Manchuria. Once again, this inexcusable display of repugnance — a sickening insult to the 20 million courageous Chinese who gave their lives resisting Japanese fascism during WWII — proves yet again that the poisonous anti-government movement in Hong Kong is riddled with Sinophobic sentiment.

Facts don’t matter to the Sinophobic Western media either, which is far more focused on demonizing China than consistently standing up for human rights. On Oct. 1, the same day China celebrated its 70th anniversary, Hong Kong police shot a terrorist who attempted to murder two police officers with a hammer, but he survived. The Western media refused to report on the mob of a dozen terrorists swarming two police officers and threatening their lives, framing the event as an act of police brutality. Fortunately, a full video recording from the South China Morning Post (SCMP) provided the proper context to the event. Attempting to murder law enforcement officers is not the same as fighting for freedom.

Freedom and democracy are noble ideas, but those who advocate for them must adhere to their own principles. Political violence under any circumstances should be universally condemned as a means of promoting one’s own ideals. By repeatedly displaying sinophobic prejudice against mainland Chinese, the Hong Kong rioters have unmasked themselves for the brazen and lawless hypocrites that they really are. Until the protesters are capable of treating Chinese with the dignity entitled to them, the world should condemn their hateful and fanatical uprising.