CHINESE MISSION CLAIMS AUSTRALIA ‘MISREAD’ BEIJING TWITTER POST

China's embassy in Australia said politicians there had "misread" a tweet showing a digitally-altered image of an Australian soldier holding a bloodied knife to the throat of an Afghan child, and were trying to stoke nationalism, Kirsty Needham reported for Reuters.

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday called the tweet posted by China's foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, "truly repugnant," and called for an apology. It is not known if Australian cartoonists would also do a sketch of a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldier holding a Uighur child by the hair and threatening him to slit his throat with a bloody bayonet. Australians have alrady accused the Chinese of being insolent, arrogant and promoting disinformation.

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On Tuesday the tweet was pinned to the top of Zhao's social media account, and China's Global Times newspaper, known for nationalistic and even xenophobic views, interviewed the Chinese artist who created the image.

"The rage and roar of some Australian politicians and media is nothing but misreading of and overreaction to Mr. Zhao's tweet," the Chinese embassy in Canberra said in a statement on Tuesday. Australia's Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary had called ambassador Cheng Jingye on Monday to complain about the social media post, it confirmed, adding that Cheng had "refuted the unwarranted accusations as absolutely unacceptable." Australia was seeking to "stoke domestic nationalism" and "deflect public attention from the horrible atrocities by certain Australian soldiers." New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said earlier on Tuesday that New Zealand has registered its concern with Chinese authorities over the use of the "unfactual" image of the soldier.