SYDNEY: Prime Minister of Australia said a fake image of an Australian soldier was posted on a Chinese official's Twitter account was "truly repugnant." Scott Morrison called a media briefing to condemn the posting of the image depicting an Australian soldier holding a knife to the throat of an Afghan child and said Canberra was seeking an apology from Beijing.

The government of Australia has asked Twitter to remove the tweet which was posted on Monday by China's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, Morrison said. He added, "It is utterly outrageous and cannot be justified on any basis. The Chinese government should be utterly ashamed of this post. It diminishes them in the world's eyes." Australia's relationship with China has worsened since Canberra called for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. This month, China also outlined a list of complaints about Australia's foreign investment, national security, and human rights policy. Mr. Morrison said countries around the world were watching how Beijing responded to tensions in Australia's relationship with China.

The government of Australia had established a "transparent and honest" process for investigating the allegations against the accused soldiers and this "is what a free, democratic, liberal country does". Australia had "patiently sought" to address tensions in the relationship with China and wanted direct discussion between ministers, Mr. Morrison said.

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