Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, weighed in on the Twitter dispute between Australia and China, raising concerns with Beijing over a photoshopped image posted by Chinese spokesperson Zhao Lijian.

The fake photo featured a man dressed as an Australian soldier holding a bloody knife to an Afghan child’s throat.

“Whilst that is an exchange that’s happening between Australia and China, it will of course tip into spaces where as a general principle we may have concerns and will raise those,” Ardern said in an interview with TVNZ, adding her administration has raised concerns directly with Chinese authorities over the “unfactual post.”

The Chinese artist behind the image, Wuheqilin, also spoke out in a video, advising Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to face the reality. “Put your attention and efforts on local domestic affairs, manage the discipline of your country’s troops to avoid similar international tragedies.” The artist has previously created works to vilify Hong Kong protesters.

Twitter has labelled the post as “sensitive” but fell short of deleting the post as it did not violate Twitter’s rules.

While the image has caused a huge backlash with Australia, with Morrison condemning it as repugnant, outrageous and appalling, China has brushed off calls for apologies. Zhao even pinned the tweet to his profile.

“Does the strong reaction of the Australian side to my colleague’s personal tweet implicate that the callous killing of innocent Afghan civilians is justified while condemning such crimes is unreasonable?” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying tweeted in defense of Zhao.

“What the Australian government should do is to reflect deeply, bring the murderers to justice and make a formal apology to the Afghan people,” she added. “The purpose of the image is showing people’s anger at such crimes.”

The spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Australia dismissed criticism, calling the row an attempt to shift attention away from the crimes in Afghanistan and blame the escalating tensions between the two countries on China.

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