AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
FRA
GER
ESP
ITA
NLD
PRT
SWE
GRC
IND
POL
BRA
ZAF
RUS
CHN
UAE
Image Source: Shutterstock
Summary
- PM Scott Morrison posted a ‘sensitive’ message on the Chinese platform WeChat, criticising Chinese officials for tweeting a caricature of an Australian soldier.
- The post was taken down on Wednesday night due to the alleged violations of WeChat’s regulations.
- France, New Zealand, the US, and Taiwan stood by Australia, criticising the Communist party for making such a ‘low’ move.
WeChat, a popular Chinese messaging platform, deleted PM Scott Morrison’s message on Wednesday evening after he criticised the Chinese government for posting a controversial image on Twitter.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian tweeted a controversial image, illustrating an Australian soldier cutting an Afghan child’s throat, as a response to the recent allegations for war crimes committed in Afghanistan.
The US pledged its support to Australia after the news first came, saying China had managed to manipulate even more false information.
As a response to the Chinese officials, Mr Morrison headed to WeChat, wrote a text of apology, and assured the Chinese that Australia was thoroughly looking into allegations of war crimes.
Mr Morrison also applauded Australia’s Chinese community in his WeChat text written in Chinese.
Soon after the text was posted, WeChat took the message down under the explanation of not complying with the social media platform’s guidelines and regulations.
Australian Defence Force is currently on trial for 39 alleged murders of civilians and non-combatants. A four-year examination found that senior soldiers forced their juniors to kill Afghan prisoners to quench bloodthirst in the battle, a case that is now under meticulous investigation.
Currently, 19 soldiers are accused of the aforementioned war crimes and are set to face prosecution in Australia.
When the Chinese minister tweeted the provocative illustration, Mr Morrison defended the country, saying only specific individuals had committed wrongdoings in Afghanistan, and tried to keep themselves out of the public eye during the ongoing trial.
Image Source: Shutterstock
ALSO READ: What can Australia do about its relationship with China?
France, New Zealand, and Taiwan joined the US to support Australia, saying that the Chinese behaviour was questionable and manipulative. It is to be highlighted here that China claims Taiwan as its own territory, while Taiwan calls itself an independent nation.
In the US statement, the cabinet looked surprised at the Communist Party in China’s move. The US also called it ‘hypocrisy’.
Joe Biden’s future ally Jake Sullivan assured that the US would always stand by Australia during unprecedented events as such, without mentioning any China-related affairs and actions.
US State Department deputy spokesman Cale Brown pointed out that China was hiding its own horrendous acts, such as not respecting the fundamental human rights for its citizens, media censorship, and killing more than a million Muslims in the country.
French spokesman also supported Australia with a shocked reaction, saying the Chinese tweet had insulted, not just Australia, but all the countries who are currently fighting in Afghanistan.
Before Mr Morrison’s message was taken down, almost 60,000 users on WeChat had seen it.
Twitter is on the list of censored media outlets in China but is widely used by the Chinese politicians and diplomats.
DID YOU READ: Raising a glass against China: IPAC urges world to drink Australian wine
