Australian PM sends message to Chinese community amid spat with Beijing over fake image

Amid spat with China, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a WeChat mess said that diplomatic dispute between Beijing and Canberra will t diminish respect for Chinese-Australian community. Morrison ackwledged contributions me by Chinese migrants in making Australia successful and also hoped that community will continue to play an important role in making Australia a "multicultural nation". 

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Morrison's post on Chinese social media platform comes amid soaring tensions between Beijing and Canberra over a morphed im of an Australian soldier posted by a Chinese diplomat. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Monday shared a digitally manipulated picture of an Australian soldier holding a knife against throat of an Afghan child, which sparked global outr. Australia demanded an apology from China and asked Twitter to remove post. 

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China refuses to apologise

China has rejected Australia's call for an apology, while Twitter has also refused to take down picture saying it has marked post as "sensitive" but can't remove im because it doesn't violate any rules. Lijian has pinned his tweet on Twitter, which has so far garnered over 57,000 likes. Lijian's post was in reference to recently released Brereton report that has uncovered cases of alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan by soldiers of Australian special forces. Twitter is banned in China, but Chinese diplomats and editors have been long using it to spew vem against foes. 

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Morrison in his WeChat mess also hit out at China saying as a "free, democratic, and liberal" country, Australia has initiated a criminal investigation into allegations. Brereton inquiry revealed at least 39 cases of alleged murders of Afghans by Australian special forces, who were deployed as part of NATO in war-torn country from 2005 to 2016. report sparked global outr and prompted Australia into launching an investigation. 

Meanwhile, Australia-China relations on Friday took ar blow after Beijing imposed tariffs of up to 212 percent on Australian wine imports. tariffs t just impacted Australian export to one of its largest markets, but it also took a toll on $1 billion Australian wine industry. China has accused Australia of illegally dumping wine into market.

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