On July 25, a spokesperson for the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) hit back at America’s most radical anti-China politician Marco Rubio. Rubio alleged that “Communist Party of China used organized crime groups to attack protesters in Hong Kong” and that “they are violating everything they agreed in Hong Kong handover.” The spokesperson denounced the remarks of the US senator on Hong Kong as “absolute nonsense.”

In fact, Rubio is known to stir up trouble. In February, Rubio threatened Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro with a graphic picture of the brutal murder of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as part of a social media campaign to try to incite a civil war. It was a shocking look into the mind of a man who will go to extreme lengths to promote his personal agenda in other countries. Twitter users blasted the US senator as a “psychopath,” “sick and twisted,” and “manic warmonger.”

Rubio has a record of maliciously attacking China and confusing right and wrong without any moral sense, as the spokesperson said. And this is exactly what he is doing when he took to social media to provoke the relationship between Hong Kong and the central government of China, once again revealing his malicious intentions.

“To some American politicians, only violence in their countries counts as violence, while violence in other countries and regions is a matter of human rights and freedom; only those who attack the police and endanger social order in their countries are rioters, while those damaging public property, storming government institutions and even assaulting the police elsewhere are 'human rights and freedom fighters,” the spokesperson said.

This shows that there is a double-standard when it comes to China. In any civilized society, violence is unacceptable and should be condemned.

For example, some American politicians have labeled Antifa—a political protest movement opposed to extreme right-wing ideology—as domestic terrorists. After the group took to the streets of Portland, Oregon, disorder broke out. In response, Bill Cassidy and Ted Cruz introduced a resolution condemning the violent acts conducted by Antifa and calling for the designation of the group as a domestic terrorist organization. Cruz called Antifa “a terrorist organization composed of hateful, intolerant radicals who pursue their extreme agenda through aggressive violence.”

Would they still label Antifa as terrorists if they were protesting in Hong Kong? They are more likely than not to fan the flames of violence, just like Rubio did when he threatened Maduro with Gaddafi’s gruesome fate. This is hypocrisy and absurdity at its finest.

Since Hong Kong’s return to China, the central government has been committed to the principles of “one country, two systems,” “Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong,” and a high degree of autonomy in the special administrative region. As a result, the spokesperson said, Hong Kong has maintained its prosperity and stability, and its people now enjoy unprecedentedly extensive rights and freedoms in accordance with law.

No matter what garbage comes out of Rubio’s mouth, it is impossible to change these facts.