Australia demands China apologize for 'repugnant' Twitter post

Nov. 29 (UPI) — As tensions between the two countries further strain, Australia on Monday demanded China apologize for posting a “repugnant” and “offensive” doctored image on Twitter of an Australian soldier threatening the life of an Afghan child. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a strongly worded televised address that they have asked China’s foreign affairs ministry to apologize for the post published a few hours earlier to the account of its deputy director and spokesman, Zhao Lijian. “The Chinese government should be totally ashamed of this post,” Morrison said in the address. “It diminishes them in the world’s eyes.” The doctored image of the smiling solider holding a bloody knife to the throat of a small Afghan child with a lamb his arms was published two weeks after the Australian government announced findings of a report that said Australian soldiers unlawfully killed 39 Afghans between 2005 and 2016 during war in the Middle Eastern country. “Shocked by murder of Afghan civilians & prisoners by Australian soldiers,” Zhao said in the tweet that accompanied the image. “We strongly condemn such acts & call for holding them accountable.” Morrison called the post “truly repugnant” and that they have asked…
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