Australia demands China apology over 'repugnant' Twitter post

Australia demands removal of fake photo of soldier posted by official government spokesman, as ties further deteriorate.Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison has condemned a fake image of an Australian soldier posted on the Twitter account of a Chinese government spokesman as “truly repugnant” and demanded the post be removed. The image, depicting a grinning Australian soldier holding a blood-stained knife to the throat of an Afghan child, was posted on Monday on the verified account of China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. Morrison said the Australian government was demanding an apology from China and had asked Twitter to remove the tweet, which was pinned at the top of Zhao’s feed. “It is utterly outrageous and cannot be justified on any basis,” Morrison said. “The Chinese government should be utterly ashamed of this post. It diminishes them in the world’s eyes.” Relations between Australia and China have deteriorated sharply in recent months. China has introduced a string of economic sanctions on Australian goods and state-controlled news outlets have repeatedly attacked Australia over a range of issues. The bad will appears to have been prompted by Canberra’s decision to push back on Beijing’s growing power in the region and call for an…
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