SYDNEY, Australia (CWBN)_ Prime Minister Scott Morrison lashed out China after a senior government official in Beijing shared a highly distressing fake war crimes photo on social media.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, today (Nov 30) tweeted the fake image of what appears to be an Australian soldier slitting a child’s throat. “Shocked by murder of Afghan civilians and prisoners by Australian soldiers. We strongly condemn such acts and call for holding them accountable,” he tweeted along with the image.
Lijian was referring to the report released by Australian Defence Forces’ Gen. Angus John Campbell, earlier this month, which stated there was credible information that Australian Special Forces unlawfully killed 39 Afghan civilians, between 2005 and 2016.
Responding to the tweet, PM Morrison said the Chinese government should apologise for sharing the “deplorable” and “terribly offensive” fake photo on social media.
Referring to the report on the alleged war crimes by Australian troops, Morrison said that Australia is dealing with the issue in a transparent and honest manner, and condemned “the ugliness seen on the Chinese government post”.
The PM also called on Twitter to take down the image.
“It is an outrageous and disgusting slur and in the interests of decency they should take it down,” he said.
Nevertheless, relations between China and Australia have soured in recent months, with Beijing imposing sanctions on a growing list of Australian imports, including beef, lobster, barley, timber, coal and wine.
China has blamed Canberra for the escalating diplomatic row, following PM Morrison’s call for an investigation on the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic which emerged from Wuhan.
Moreover, the ban on Huawei’s participation in Australia’s 5G wireless network and the Australian government’s outspokenness about human rights issues in China appear to have contributed to the disputes.
Despite the image shared by the Chinese official, Morrison said that he hopes for a “reset” in relations. “I would hope this rather awful event will lead to the kind of reset where this type of dialogue can be restarted,” he said.
The recent response by Beijing on the alleged war crimes follows the message by Russia, calling into question Australia’s commitment to protecting the rules-based world order.
Maria Zakharova, Moscow’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, claimed that the accused Australian soldiers would not be held accountable, despite reports that several members of the Australian military will be referred to a special investigator to determine if there is sufficient evidence to prosecute.
Edited by Chathushka Perera
