WeChat, a Chinese social media platform, has removed a post made by Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison, alleging him of misleading the public amid the two countries' diplomatic dispute.
In an explicit appeal to Chinese citizens, Morrison promoted Australia as a "free" and "democratic" country. He stated an official investigation was ongoing into alleged atrocities by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.
WeChat Deletes Australian PM's Appeal to China
The Chinese-owned messaging app has removed the post by the Australian PM, wherein he condemned a Beijing diplomat for denouncing Australian soldiers.
According to Australian local media, his message was deleted for contravening WeChat guidelines, which prohibit posts that are "misleading," "inciting," "distort historical events, and "confuse the public," reported Syria Friends.
Morrison has steered clear of interrogations regarding the social media company's censorship of his post about Australia'srecent contention with China.
He used the social media platform to respond to a senior Chinese government official's derogatory photo posted on Twitter.
China rejected Morrison's appeals for an apology after its foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian tweeted the photo of an Australian soldier holding a bloodied knife to the throat of a child from Afghanistan on Monday.
The United States touted China's use of the doctored image as a "new low" in misinformation.
Beijing has cautioned Australia that it is subject to "lasting punishment" over a call to boycott Chinese-made products spearheaded by Pauline Hanson.
According to the One Nation leader this week, a prohibition on the importation of goods produced in China should be implemented, amid the ongoing dispute over a digitally manipulated image of the Australian soldier shared by the top Communist Party official on Twitter, reported News.com.au.
Also Read : Australian PM Demands Apology From China Over Image of Soldier Brutally Threatening Child
Recently, China and Australia have taken to social media as tensions between the two countries are ongoing. The Australian PM demanded a public apology earlier this week following the doctored image posted on Twitter, a social media platform prohibited in China.
According to Morrison on WeChat, "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." 57,000 WeChat users had read the prime minister's message by Wednesday.
Morrison played a straight bat when questioned about the intervention and Twitter's declining to remove the original photo.
"I'll leave that for them to explain their actions and I'll leave WeChat to make an explanation of their actions if they choose to make one," remarked Morrison, reported Perthnow.
According to Morrison further, "But what is most important, is despite the events of recent months and weeks and indeed years, Australia remains committed to constructive and open and regular dialogue at a leader and ministerial level to address the tensions are clearly there in the relationship."
While condemning the "false image" on WeChat, Morrison lauded Australia's Chinese community.
The prime minister, in his message, justified Australia's management of a war crimes probe into the actions of special forces in Afghanistan and stated Australia would deal with "thorny issues" transparently.
