JN / Agencies
Today at 08:24–
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison today demanded an apology from China for a post on the social network Twitter released by a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The Chinese government should be totally ashamed of this message. It diminishes them in the eyes of the world,” said Morrison, referring to the image published by the official on the censored social network in China.
Morrison stressed that the publication “is totally scandalous and cannot be justified”, and said he asked Twitter to “immediately” remove the message containing “a fake image”.
The controversial publication by Zhao Lijian, who was still on the social network after seven hours, is accompanied by a photograph in which a soldier in a military uniform and helmet with the Australian flag holds a bloody knife on the neck of a barefoot child, whose image is blurred , which is clinging to a white sheep.
The floor where they both appear is covered by the Australian flag, which also covers several inert bodies, and the Afghan flag, which is composed of pieces of a puzzle.
The Chinese official wrote that he was “shocked by the killing of Afghan civilians and prisoners by Australian soldiers” and added: “We strongly condemn these acts and ask that you be held to account.”
Zhao Lijian’s publication follows Australia’s admission on 19 November that his army killed 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners between 2005 and 2016 during his deployment to Afghanistan.
Australian Army Chief Rick Burr said on Friday that 13 soldiers had been notified of his expulsion, without specifying whether they were among the accused after investigating war crimes committed by the military.
Hu Xijin, the editor of the Chinese state newspaper Global Times, defended the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also via Twitter.
“It is a known caricature that condemns the brutal death of 39 Afghan civilians by the Australian Special Forces,” said Hu.
“Why is Morrison angry at the Foreign Ministry spokesman’s use of the caricature? It is ridiculous and embarrassing that he demands an apology from China,” he responded.
Diplomatic relations between Canberra and Beijing have deteriorated significantly due to several statements by political leaders, trade tensions between the two nations and political measures promoted by Australia.
“There are certainly tensions between China and Australia, but this is not the way to face them,” said Morrison in his message.
Australia vetoed Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE from granting concessions for its fifth generation (5G) network in 2018 for security reasons, and exerted legislative pressure to avoid foreign political interference, without referring directly to China.
On the trade front, where the Asian giant is Australia’s main trading partner, Beijing has increased import duties on several Australian products.
The two countries also maintain profound ideological differences and disagree on issues such as human rights or militarization and free navigation in the disputed South China Sea.
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