Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison overreacted to a social media post about alleged war crimes by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan, China’s senior diplomat in Australia said yesterday, adding that his actions drew more attention to the report.
Earlier this week, Morrison said that a Chinese official’s post on Twitter showing a fake image of an Australian soldier appearing to slit a child’s throat was “truly repugnant” and merits an apology, which has not come from China.
“I think it’s unfortunate that this issue evolved in such a way that has gone astray and now there is a much larger visibility of the Brereton Report in China,” Wang Xining (王晰寧), the deputy head of the Chinese embassy in Australia, said. “More people are attentive to what happened in Afghanistan. People wonder why a national leader would have such a strong opinion to an artwork done by a normal young artist in China.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
He was referring to a disturbing report by Australia’s military earlier this month that found evidence that elite Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and civilians during the conflict in Afghanistan.
It recommended that 19 soldiers be referred to federal police for criminal investigation.
It followed a four-year investigation by New South Wales Supreme Court Judge and Australian Army Reserve Major General Paul Brereton, who was asked to look into the allegations and interviewed more than 400 witnesses and reviewed thousands of pages of documents.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) posted the graphic image that shows a grinning soldier holding a bloodied knife to the throat of a veiled child, who is holding a lamb.
“Shocked by murder of Afghan civilians & prisoners by Australian soldiers. We strongly condemn such acts, & call for holding them accountable,” Zhao wrote on Twitter.
Many of Australia’s allies have been critical of the tweet, with the EU calling it “irresponsible.”
“We consider the deliberate dissemination of a fabricated image via social media accounts affiliated with China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be irresponsible, insensitive and not at all constructive, particularly given the subject in question,” an EU spokesman said.
“Such behavior and use of information tools to disseminate fabricated images or information cannot be justified,” he added.
Officials from Canada, New Zealand and the US have also criticized Zhao’s post.
The rift between the nations has grown since the Australian government called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. China has since imposed tariffs and other restrictions on a number of Australian exports, most recently to its lucrative wine industry.
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