A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson has come back swinging at the Australian government’s demands for an apology over a doctored photo posted by a Communist Party official.
The photo, which has been blasted as “repugnant” by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, was altered to depict an Australian soldier holding a knife to the throat of a child atop the Australian and Afghanistan flags.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian today tweeted the faked image, which prompted a swift response from Mr Morrison who demanded an apology from China.
The image shows the child’s face covered and holding a lamb, with the following words: “Don’t be afraid, we are coming to bring you peace”.
“Shocked by murder of Afghan civilians and prisoners by Australian soldiers. We strongly condemn such acts and call for holding them accountable,” Mr Zhao said in the tweet.
In his statement, the spokesman is referring to the Brereton report, which found that Australian special forces soldiers had committed 39 murders in Afghanistan.
Hua Chunying from the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday night doubled down in the face of outrage directed at China as a result of the tweeted image.
“The Australian side is reacting so strongly to my colleague’s Twitter,” Ms Hua said, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
“Does that mean that they think the coldblooded murder of Afghans is justified? The Australian government should feel ashamed of this; they owe an explanation to the world and they should solemnly pledge such crimes will not be repeated.”
The Brereton report was actioned by the Australian government after allegations arose of improper conduct by SAS troops.
Mr Morrison earlier today said Australia was demanding an apology and immediate removal of the image, which he said is “false and a terrible slur”.
“There are undoubtedly tensions that exist between China and Australia. But that’s not how you deal with it,” he said.
“It is deeply offensive to every Australian who has served in uniform.
“It is outrageous and can’t be justified on any basis whatsoever.”
Mr Morrison said the government had also contacted Twitter to request the image be removed.
He said the social media giant should “in the interests of decency” take the image down.
Mr Morrison called on China to engage in respectful dialogue, rather than “engaging in this sort of deplorable behaviour”.
This is not the first time Mr Zhao has taken issue with Australia.
It was only last week that he revealed a list of accusations against Australia.
These allegations included accusations that the Morrison government committed a “blatant violation … of international relations”, by speaking out over what it viewed as risks to “democratic processes” in Hong Kong and human rights abuse allegations in Xinjiang.
