UK Stands ‘Shoulder to Shoulder’ With Australia After China’s Offensive Tweet

A Union Flag held up in Parliament Square outside the House of Commons in central London on March 29, 2019. Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images

The British will stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Australians after the Chinese regime doubled down on an inflammatory doctored image posted on Twitter by a top Chinese official.

The UK’s foreign ministry spokesperson said that the fake image was deeply concerning.

“Disinformation is an issue we take extremely seriously and we will continue to coordinate closely with Australia and other international partners to ensure our citizens are protected,” a spokesperson for the UK’s foreign ministry told The Epoch Times on Dec. 2.

The image, posted by Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesmen Zhao Lijian, showed an Australian soldier slitting the throat of an Afghan child.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called it “repugnant“ and ”unjustified,” and the government has called for an apology.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab reacts as he makes a statement on Hong Kong's national security legislation in London, Britain, on July 1, 2020. Hannah McKay/Reuters

“The Foreign Secretary [Dominic Raab] has made clear we will always stand shoulder to shoulder with Australia to make sure that we protect our key interests and values,” the spokesperson said.

The UK’s support comes as another Five Eyes partner, New Zealand, also registered its concern about the fake image with China.

“New Zealand has registered directly with Chinese authorities our concern over the use of that image,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. “It was an unfactual post, and of course that would concern us. So that is something we have raised directly in the manner that New Zealand does when we have such concerns.”

A third Five Eyes partner, the United States, demonstrated its support for Australia with the Deputy Secretary Spokesperson for the State Department Cale Brown posting a thread on Twitter that said: “We stand with our Australian partners in calling out @MFA_China for spreading disinformation by fabricating an image of Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. This is a new low, even for the Chinese Communist Party”

Priot to Brown comments the U.S National Security Council wrote that Australian wine would be featured at a White House holiday reception this week, after the Chinese regime slapped tariffs ranging from 100 to 200 percent on Australian wine imports as part of an ongoing “anti-dumping” investigation into the industry.

It wrote: “Australian wine will be featured at a White House holiday reception this week. Pity vino lovers in China who, due to Beijing’s coercive tariffs on Aussie vintners, will miss out. #AussieAussieAussieOiOiOi!”

U.S. officials have previously labelled the Chinese regime’s tariffs “economic coercion.”