China slaps down PM’s message ago 1 hour 3 Views 18 min read
China has censored Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s direct appeal to millions of Chinese citizens on the social messaging app WeChat, in which he defended Australian soldiers after a fake image showing a soldier preparing to slit the throat of a child.The material published on the official WeChat account of Mr Morrison was deleted by the…
China has censored Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s direct appeal to millions of Chinese citizens on the social messaging app WeChat, in which he defended Australian soldiers after a fake image showing a soldier preparing to slit the throat of a child.
The material published on the official WeChat account of Mr Morrison was deleted by the social media giant on Wednesday night, with the Prime Minister’s office confirming it was aware the post had been blocked.
The message now states that the content “involves the use of inciting, misleading, or contrary to objective facts, text, pictures, videos, etc.,”
Twitter has refused Australia’s request to remove the original offending image, a photoshopped piece of “art” depicting a grinning Australian soldier crouching in an Afghan flag and an Australian flag and holding a knife to the throat of a child.
In the now censored post which was originally shared on Tuesday night , the Prime Minister insisted that the incendiary image would not diminish Australia’s respect for the Chinese community at home or abroad.
“I am extremely proud of all Australians who pull a uniform on for Australia. I am proud of their service and of their dedication to keeping Australia and Australians safe. I am proud of their loyalty to our country and its values,” he said.
“The post of a false image of an Australian soldier does not diminish our respect for and appreciation of our Chinese Australian community or indeed our friendship with the people of China .”
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Tencent, the parent company that owns WeChat, was the subject of US President Donald Trump’s recent executive order, which demands US firms stop doing business with it.
WeChat has over a billion users and is widely used for messaging, to pay bills, share news or order taxis.
The Prime Minister first joined the Chinese social messaging platform in the lead up to the 2019 election.
In Tuesday night’s post, the Prime Minister was at pains to note his respect for the nation’s Chinese community.
“We acknowledge and greatly appreciate and value the contribution that generations of Chinese migrants have made to Australia,” he said.
“Migrants from China have been arriving in Australia for more than two hundred years and Australians of Chinese background have added immensely to our nation.”
As he has previously noted, he said the Chinese community’s adherence to COVID-19 rules and quarantine was vital to containing the virus as Australians returned from Wuhan and other parts of China earlier this year.
“They were the ones who first went into self-isolation, they were the ones who were returning from family visits to China and they were coming home and it was through their care, commitment and patience that actually Australia was protected in that first wave. Australians are very grateful for that,’’ he said.
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China’s state-controlled media this week urged Prime Minister Scott Morrison to “kneel down on the ground and slap himself in the face” over alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.
“Morrison should kneel down on the ground, slap himself in the face, and kowtow to apologise to Afghans – all these should be done in a live telecast,” the editor wrote.
“No matter what harsh words people use on them for the murder, the Australian government should have accepted it. How dare they talk back and say they are offended!”

This data comes from MediaIntel.Asia's Media Intelligence and Media Monitoring Platform.