Twitter rejects call to remove Chinese official’s tweet | Flash News
Twitter rejects call to remove Chinese official’s tweet
Twitter on Tuesday rejected Australian calls to end a fiery tweet by a Beijing official targeting Australian troops, as China doubled down on its criticism of the international condemnation.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Xiao Lijian expressed outrage in Canberra on Monday when he posted a photo of a man dressed as an Australian soldier holding a bloody knife around the neck of an Afghan child.
The post comes just days after Australian prosecutors began investigating 19 members of the country's military for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.
Twitter said it called the tweet "sensitive," but added that comments on political issues or "foreign policy violations" between the government's political accounts were generally against its rules. Are not.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the tweet "null and void," calling for a virtual press conference to suppress Twitter and demand an apology from China.
He said Beijing should be "completely ashamed" of the "provocative and disgusting filth" against the Australian armed forces.
Twitter is banned for most Chinese citizens, and Beijing has been accused of widespread human rights violations for decades.
Some Australian allies have expressed concern over the tweet, including New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
"A photo was used in this case which is not really precise, it is not a real photo, so we took it directly with the Chinese authorities," he told reporters.
The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the post "does not meet the diplomatic standards we have in China."
A spokesperson said the image was "an insult to all countries whose armed forces have been in Afghanistan for 20 years."
In a limited statement, Kabul said it was "working with Canberra" to investigate the Australian military's alleged mismanagement, adding that Australia and China are committed to peace and development in Afghanistan. They are the “key players” in maintaining international consensus.
Another embarrassment for Australia came on Tuesday when the Guardian released an image showing an Australian soldier firing beer from the prosthetic leg of a slain Taliban fighter.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Canberra accused Australia of exaggerating the incident.
“The outrage of some Australian politicians and media is nothing more than a misrepresentation and abuse of Mr Xiao's tweet,” the spokesperson said.
The embassy suggested Australian officials were trying "to bring public attention to the horrific atrocities committed by some Australian soldiers" and "to promote domestic nationalism".
The diplomatic corps has taken relations between Beijing and Canberra to a new low.
China has imposed a number of economic sanctions on Australian products in recent months, while state news outlets have repeatedly attacked Australia on a number of issues.
It comes after Canberra began to overtake Beijing's growing power in the region, crushing Chinese influence under the influence and calling for an independent investigation into the origin of the corona virus outbreak.
Source:- Flash News and News Agencies