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South China morning post
China doubles its criticism of Australia over Afghanistan
China has redoubled its criticism of Australia after refusing to delete a tweet with a digital illustration of an Australian soldier who appears to murder a child in Afghanistan and accusing the Australian government of using the line to divert attention from alleged “atrocities” of Australian soldiers. Both governments issued statements on Tuesday when the matter spread from Twitter to other public forums and the Australian government used the Chinese social platform WeChat to address “the fake photo” but also praised aspects of the Australia-China relationship. to remove the controversial tweet from its spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, despite Monday’s demands by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison that the tweet be removed and China apologize. The tweet included an image targeting the behavior of Australian soldiers in Afghanistan as revealed by a recent investigation into domestic war crimes. It depicted a smiling Australian soldier holding a bloody knife to the throat of a child, who in turn is holding a lamb. The boy’s face is wrapped in the Australian flag and a pained expression is seen. Morrison called Zhao’s tweet containing the image “faked”, “disgusting” and “absolutely outrageous”. The embassy said it received a phone call on Monday from Australian Trade and Foreign Affairs Secretary Frances Adamson, who had complained to Chinese Ambassador Cheng Jingye about Zhao’s situation. tweet. “We would like to place more emphasis on the following: the anger and roar of some Australian politicians and media is nothing more than a misreading and overreaction to Mr. Zhao’s tweet,” the official statement said. “The allegations made are simply to serve two purposes. One is to divert public attention from the horrific atrocities committed by certain Australian soldiers. The other is to blame China for the worsening bilateral relations. There may be another attempt to stoke the domestic nationalism “. Australian soldiers face firing for a report on war crimes in Afghanistan. Canberra subsequently issued a statement in Chinese about the prime minister’s official account on WeChat, the most popular Chinese social media messaging system. in the first person in an apparent attempt to attract a Chinese audience. Morrison said he was proud of the Australian military and stressed that the Australian government would handle the issues revealed in the war crimes report in a “transparent and honest” manner. Morrison was quoted as praising China’s contribution to Australia during the coronavirus pandemic, and said he was happy to welcome foreign Chinese students who arrived in Australia. “Posting the fake photo of the Australian soldier will not weaken people’s respect and praise for the Australian-Chinese community, and will not cripple our friendship with the Chinese people,” Twitter has not deleted Zhao’s tweet despite the Canberra calls, but said he had labeled it “media sensitive.” By Tuesday afternoon, the tweet was placed on top of Zhao’s tweets. Twitter said that Zhao’s account was labeled as a Chinese government account and already provided the public with context to “better inform their interpretation of their intent.” “For world leaders, politicians, and official government accounts, direct interactions with other public figures, comments on current political issues, or foreign policy rumors on economic or military issues do not usually violate the Twitter Rules,” said the statement. the narrative from the Chinese Foreign Ministry and echoed the sentiment of Zhao’s original tweet. “What the Australian government should do now is think deeply and bring the perpetrators to justice, make a formal apology to the people Afghan and solemnly promise the international community that I will never commit this terrible crime again, ”said a comment in the People’s Daily. The state tabloid Global Times published an interview with t The illustrator, known as Wuheqilin, said his image was inspired by the findings of an Australian war crimes investigation published last month. The investigation found evidence that 19 Australian soldiers killed 39 unarmed Afghan prisoners and civilians. “Although the image is not a factual photograph, it was created on the basis of facts and expressed as a metaphor,” Wuheqilin said. “I hope that more people will see this image and pay attention to this tragedy that took place in reality.” Meanwhile, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern chimed in, saying her government had also raised concerns with China over the image. “New Zealand has directly registered with the Chinese authorities our concern about the use of that image,” Ardern told reporters in the parliament in the capital Wellington. “It was an unfounded message and of course that would concern us. So that’s something we’ve raised directly in the way that New Zealand does when we have such concerns. ”In a show of American support for Australia, the United States National Security Council ridiculed China’s recent decision to impose a tariff of the 212% to Australian wine, which according to the Chinese government was to prevent domestic production from being damaged by cheap imports. Australia promises WTO action on China’s barley trade dispute “Australian wine will be presented at a festive reception at the White House this week. Too bad wine lovers in China, because of Beijing’s coercive tariffs on Australian winegrowers, are lose it. AussieAussieAussieOiOiOi! ”The NSC tweeted on Tuesday. The Twitter feud is the latest in an intense downward spiral in China-Australia relations. Recently, trade has been the focus of tensions, with China taking a series of informal actions against Australian products, including coal, wood, cotton, beef and wine, but the Chinese Foreign Ministry He said the latest dispute had nothing to do with China. -Relations with Australia. More from the South China Morning Post: * China-Australia relations: Prime Minister Scott Morrison responds to Beijing’s list of 14 complaints * China says the Australia-Japan defense pact should not threaten the interests of others countries * Australia establishes war crimes prosecutor in Afghanistan after years of whistleblower complaints This article China doubles in criticism of Australia for Afghanistan first appeared in the South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post, download our mobile app. Copyright 2020.
