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The Australian government condemns the report.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Chinese authorities should be ashamed to share what he calls an abominable image on Twitter, writes the BBC.
The message was posted by a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry on an official government account.
The picture shows a man dressed as an Australian soldier holding a bloody knife to the neck of an Afghan boy. The text in the image reads: «Don’t be afraid. We come calmly to dive ».
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison calls a post on a Chinese government Twitter account a shameful and heinous act.
Photo: Kiyoshi Ota / AP
The Australian government has asked Twitter to remove the image and I think China should apologize.
– The Chinese government should be ashamed of this publication. It reduces them in the eyes of the world. It is a false image and a mockery of our soldiers, Morrison says.
But there will hardly be an apology from China in the first place.
– It is not China that should be ashamed, but Australia, says a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Investigating Soldiers
The post and photo show allegations that Australian soldiers have killed civilians and prisoners in Afghanistan.
Earlier this month, an investigative report came in that showed Australian soldiers were involved in the killing of 39 Afghans between 2009 and 2013.
The Australian military says it condemns the information. 13 special forces soldiers have been fired from the defense, suspected of having participated in or witnessed the assassination, writes the BBC.
In addition, 19 soldiers are charged with murder.
The Australian authorities have condemned and apologized to Afghanistan.
Tension between China and Australia
The Twitter post comes at a time when relations between China and Australia are very cold, in part due to a dispute over punitive tariffs on wine.
China has imposed punitive tariffs on Australian wine because it believes it will be sold at dumped prices. About 40 percent of Australian wine production goes to China.
China has imposed a punitive 200 per cent tariff on Australian wine because it believes it is sold at dumped prices.
Photo: Florence Lo / Reuters
Australia believes the wine tariffs are revenge because they called for an international investigation into the corona pandemic. They wanted to know how the virus could form and spread so quickly.
The research proposal received support from 122 countries.
But despite the Twitter post, the Australian prime minister hopes to continue negotiating with the Chinese to find a solution.
– I ask again and I ask China to resume that dialogue, says Morrison, according to the BBC.
