Scott Morrison's direct appeal to Chinese people
<p>Mr Morrison has appealed directly to millions of Chinese people on the social messaging app WeChat to defend Australia’s honour.</p>
<p>It follows after a disturbing fake image showing a soldier preparing to kill a child was put out on Twitter by a government official. <span></span></p>
<p>The Prime Minister insisted that the indecent image would not lessen Australia’s respect for the Chinese community living at home or abroad.</p>
<p>“I am extremely proud of all Australians who pull a uniform on for Australia. I am proud of their service and of their dedication to keeping Australia and Australians safe. I am proud of their loyalty to our country and its values,” he said.</p>
<p>“Where there are alleged events that have taken place that require action, well we have set up the honest and transparent processes for that to take place. That is what a free, democratic, liberal country does.</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p>Mr Morrison created a WeChat account in the lead up to the 2019 election.</p>
<p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7839025/scott-morisson-we-chat-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/c57cf68ef3f64b5298e4234f05b409a2" /></p>
<p>The Prime Minister went to great lengths in his statement on Tuesday night, adding he had great respect for the Chinese community in Australia.</p>
<p>“We acknowledge and greatly appreciate and value the contribution that generations of Chinese migrants have made to Australia,” he said.</p>
<p>“Migrants from China have been arriving in Australia for more than two hundred years and Australians of Chinese background have added immensely to our nation.”</p>
<p>He went on to praise the community for their adherence to COVID-19 rules and quarantining measures as Australians returned from Wuhan and other parts of China back in March and April of this year.</p>
<p>“It was Chinese Australians in particular who provided one of the greatest defences to the COVID-19 pandemic we had in those early weeks,” he said.</p>
<p>“They were the ones who first went into self-isolation, they were the ones who were returning from family visits to China and they were coming home and it was through their care, commitment and patience that actually Australia was protected in that first wave. Australians are very grateful for that.”</p>
<p>The Chinese Embassy reacted with a blistering statement, accusing Mr Morrison of “overreacting” to the tweet.</p>
<p>“We would like to further stress the following: The rage and roar of some Australian politicians and media is nothing but misreading of and over-reaction to Mr Zhao’s tweet,” the statement said.</p>
<p>“The accusations made are simply to serve two purposes. One is to deflect public attention from the horrible atrocities by certain Australian soldiers. </p>
<p>“The other is to blame China for the worsening of bilateral ties. There may be another attempt to stoke domestic nationalism.”</p>
<p>China’s state-controlled media has urged Scott Morrison to “kneel down on the ground” and “slap himself in the face” over the alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>“Morrison should kneel down on the ground, slap himself in the face, and kowtow to apologise to Afghans – all these should be done in a live telecast,” the editor wrote.</p>
<p>“No matter what harsh words people use on them for the murder, the Australian government should have accepted it. How dare they talk back and say they are offended!”</p>
