Startling hypocrisy of China’s sick picture over alleged war crimes in Afghanistan

China has stirred up a hornet’s nest by sharing a sick doctored image of an Aussie soldier. Now they are being eviscerated for hypocrisy.

Aussies have piled onto a Chinese Communist Party official’s doctored picture tweet — that sparked a major backlash and demands of an official apology on Monday — saying it shows a startling level of hypocrisy within the Chinese government.

Relations between Australia and China were already low before the picture was published — a picture that was blasted as “offensive” and “outrageous” by the Prime Minster.

Posted by China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, the fake image shows a grinning Australian soldier holding a bloody knife to the throat of an Afghan child who is clutching a lamb.

The Australian soldier is crouching over the flag of Afghanistan, with a blue cloth from the Australian flag covering the child’s face.

The caption on the photo reads: “Don’t be afraid, we are coming to bring you peace!”

Twitter has blown up over the image, with outraged Australians pointing out that China, a one-party authoritarian state, has been accused of systemic, wide-ranging human rights violations for decades.

Many pointed out the irony of China purporting to stand up for an Islamic country, while it continues to wage a disturbing mass incarceration campaign against Muslims in its Xinjiang province.

The provocative image China has created blasting the ADF. (Image blurred by news.com.au) Picture: Supplied

Human rights groups have documented disturbing mass crimes against Uyghur women, men, and children in the region, including coercive population control methods, forced labour, arbitrary detention in internment camps, torture, physical and sexual abuse, mass surveillance, family separation, and repression of cultural and religious expression.

Others pointed to the 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square — asking whether the soldiers involved ever faced justice for killing a still unknown number of protesters — and ongoing human rights abuses in Tibet and Hong Kong.

Mr Zhao’s tweet was clearly a response to the Australian government’s damning investigation into allegations its elite troops “unlawfully killed” 39 civilians and prisoners in Afghanistan.

However, a crucial difference pointed to by many in the comments is that although Australia is investigating its allegations of war crimes, the CCP continues to cover up its human rights abuses, even those that took place decades ago.

RELATED: Where China’s sick photo originated

“Australia has investigated, owned up to and will prosecute its war criminals,” the Australian Financial Review political editor Phillip Coorey wrote. “China’s crimes against humanity (Uyghurs etc) are state sanctioned, covered up, and more widespread. That’s the key difference.”

His argument is backed up by human rights groups like Amnesty International which says non-governmental groups trying to investigate what’s happening in Xinjiang are being intimidated, harassed, and prosecuted.

“Human rights defenders’ family members were subjected to police surveillance, harassment, detention and restrictions on their freedom of movement,” it said.

Just overnight, the United States Department of State issued a damning statement on the situation in Xinjiang, saying scholars, human rights organisations, journalists, think tanks, and survivors of concentration camps there have provided “ample information” on human rights abuses, including:

• Coercive population control through forced abortion, forced sterilisation, and involuntary implantation of birth control;

• The detention of more than one million Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, ethnic Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim minority groups in internment camps;

More than one million Uyghurs have been detained in China. Picture: Greg Baker / AFP

• Forced labour in facilities nearby or affiliated with the internment camps;

• The destruction and closure of mosques and other religious sites, prevention of youths from participating in religious activities, forced political indoctrination or “re-education”.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said these “egregious abuses” have increased through government policies under the pretext and justification of fighting the “three evils” of “ethnic separatism, religious extremism, and violent terrorism.”

In comparison, Australian government investigators have recommended 19 individuals be referred to the Australian Federal Police, compensation be paid to the families of victims and that the military carry out a slew of reforms in response to the evidence of “unlawful killings” in Afghanistan.

Last week, the Australian Army moved to discharge 13 soldiers for their role in the alleged atrocities and prosecutions are expected.

Now, there are even plans to revoke military honours for 3000 special forces troops.

Defence Force Chief Angus Campbell had argued there is “a collective responsibility” for the alleged crimes.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian shared the disturbing image on social media. Picture: Kyodo News via Getty Images

However, a public backlash is growing with a petition from a leading veteran’s support group, opposing the revoking of citations, now gathering more than 50,000 signatures.

Despite action being taken, it’s clear that China is not backing down in its criticism of Australian troops after Scott Morrison demanded an official apology.

On Monday evening, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying delivered a statement, broadcast on ABC news, doubling down on the disturbing image posted by her colleague.

“Some Australian soldiers committed serious crimes in Afghanistan,” she said. “The details are appalling and shocking including men and boys who were shot dead all with their throats slit while blindfolded.

“There are stories about two 14-year-old boys whose throats were slit and their bodies were thrown into a recruit and recruits were told to kill prisoners in a practise known as blooding.

“These cruel crimes have been condemned by the international community. The Australian side has reacted so strongly to my colleague’s Twitter, does that mean that they think the

cold blood murder of Afghan innocent civilians is justified while other people’s condemnation of such crimes are not justified?

“Afghan lives matter. The Australian government should bring the culprits to justice and offer an official apology to the Afghan people and make the solemn pledge that they will never repeat such crimes.

“They said that the Chinese government should feel ashamed. It is Australian soldiers who committed such cruel crimes. Shouldn’t the Australian government feel ashamed? Shouldn’t they feel ashamed for their soldiers killing innocent Afghan civilians?”

It is a popular cartoon that condemns the Australian Special Forces ’s brutal murder of 39 Afghan civilians. On what ground does Morrison feel angry over the use of this cartoon by the spokesperson of Chinese FM? It’s ridiculous and shameless that he demanded China to apologize. pic.twitter.com/QkBSXyf1uY

— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) November 30, 2020

The PM called an unscheduled press conference Monday afternoon to respond to the doctored image on social media.

“The post made today, the repugnant post made today of a falsified image of an Australian soldier threatening a young child with a knife, a post made on an official Chinese government account, posted by the deputy director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is truly repugnant,’’ the Prime Minister said.

“It is deeply offensive to every Australian, every Australian who has served in that uniform, every Australian who serves in that uniform today.

“Everyone who has pulled on a uniform and served with Australians overseas from whatever nation, that they have done that. It is utterly outrageous and it cannot be justified on any basis whatsoever.”

The Prime Minister said the fact that it was posted on an official Chinese government account was “shameful.”

“The Chinese government should be totally ashamed of this post,’’ he said.