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Image source,Reuters / EPA
China and Australia recently squabbled over a controversial Twitter, which has evolved from angry verbal insults to censorship of WeChat, gradually escalating into an online battle.
A senior Chinese government official posted a fake image on Twitter, causing diplomatic confusion and plunging the already fragile relationship between the two countries into an abyss.
Warning: this storyInsideThe image can be uncomfortable.
“Really offensive”
It all comes from that shocking tweet.
We hid a part of the image, which originally showed a smiling Australian soldier pointing a bloody knife at the throat of an Afghan boy.
Image source,Twitter
Illustrated by Zhao Lijian, Spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
“We are dismayed by the killing of Afghan civilians and prisoners by Australian soldiers. We strongly condemn this behavior and hold them to account,” Zhao Lijian wrote in the same tweet.
In less than two hours, the angry Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke on national television, demanding an apology from the Chinese government. He used the language with the least diplomatic rhetoric so far, calling it “really offensive, extremely offensive and extremely shameless.”
He also said Australia has established transparent procedures to investigate so-called war crimes, which is the expectation of a “democratic and free” country.
Image source,EPA
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison described Zhao’s post as “extremely shameless”.
However, he also called on China to respond to Australia’s demands for diplomatic negotiations and demand a “new commitment.”
Beijing did not seem so enthusiastic. A few hours later, Hua Chunying, another spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, replied. “It is not China that should be ashamed, but Australia,” he said.
On Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo, the artist who created this image also joined in and said that he did not expect “Old Morrison” to respond like this.
Before long, other countries joined in one after another, and many countries sided with Australia.
France called the image “shocking and insulting” to the countries that had fought in Afghanistan. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she has expressed concern to China about this “false message.”
In the United States, Deputy State Department spokesman Cale Brown said: “Together with our Australian partners, we condemn the Chinese Foreign Ministry for fabricating photographs of Australian soldiers in Afghanistan and spreading false information.”
Even the White House National Security Council also commented, referring to China’s earlier decision to impose ultra-high tariffs on Australian wine. “Australian wine will appear at the White House Christmas reception this week. Unfortunately, due to mandatory tariffs from the Chinese government on Australian wine merchants, Chinese wine lovers will miss out.”
China refuses to apologize
The Chinese side did not apologize for this, but raised the tone, saying that this photo is a computer illustration, and the response from all parties was an overreaction.
Regarding Australia’s accusations, China claimed that Australia’s purpose is to divert public attention from the terrible atrocities committed by some Australian soldiers and to attribute the deterioration of bilateral relations to China.
In response to France’s response, China’s Foreign Ministry said China’s actions relate to the country’s strong defense of the recent increase in the right to use cartoons to satirize politics. The Chinese embassy in Paris replied: “Where is the freedom of expression that you brag about?”
On Tuesday, the dispute entered a new field: Morrison used the Chinese communication platform WeChat to attract Chinese, especially the large group living in Australia.
He wrote that this diplomatic dispute “has not weakened respect and gratitude for the Chinese community in Australia” and reiterated previous criticisms of false images, defending Australia’s handling of war crimes investigations.
WeChat blocked and “Tiger’s Butt”
As of Wednesday morning, 50,000 users read Morrison’s posts on WeChat.
However, that night, WeChat deleted his post. The platform’s operations center issued a notice stating that the content violated relevant regulations, including “distorting historical events and confusing the public.”
Then the Chinese tabloid “Global Times” published the editorial and the cartoon.
The newspaper said: “Some Westerners are not used to criticism from the Chinese. The West is like a tiger, nobody dares to touch its ass.”
The newspaper also said: “Satirical cartoons contain artistic exaggeration. This makes Australian officials uncomfortable. But think about it, how many times has the West produced cartoons that offend non-Westerners? When China’s Foreign Ministry criticizes Why can’t they be accepted? ”
At the same time, angry Chinese netizens asked Morrison to apologize and make concessions, and Morrison had to deal with a lot of trouble on Twitter.
What exactly is happening?
This war of words is not unfounded. The relationship between Australia and China has been broken. Earlier this year, the Australian government called for an investigation into the source of the new corona virus, prompting an angry response from Beijing.
The two sides accused each other of espionage and freedom of the press and other issues, and also imposed economic sanctions. In addition, the Australian Parliament also passed a bill to give the federal government the power of veto, which can prevent Australian governments or state agencies from signing agreements with foreign governments, which are considered directed against China.
Professor James Laurenceson of the Institute for Australia-China Relations noted that this “Twitter war” has taken the controversy into a new field.
He believes that since social media fuels “emotional reactions rather than calm and rational reactions,” Zhao Lijian’s tweets are bait. To some extent, an escalation is inevitable.
“Zhao has carried out similar behavior. He has done it in several countries before, so I think it is a bit of a malicious attack,” he told the BBC.
But he noted that the Australian prime minister’s tough response also “confirmed that this provocation is effective” to some extent.
“Our reaction is normal, but we may lack the calm and composure that we deserve,” said Professor Laurensen.
Nobody knows what will happen in this new diplomatic battlefield. Earlier this week, Twitter rejected Canberra’s request to remove the disputed image, which has been labeled sensitive.
At the same time, this tweet was placed at the top of Zhao Lijian’s Twitter account and received almost 65,000 “likes”.
Preeti Jha, report by Frances Mao
