China’s UK embassy on Wednesday demanded that Twitter carry out a “thorough” investigation and reserved the right to take further action after its ambassador’s account “liked” a pornographic post.
The embassy said that Chinese Ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming’s (劉曉明) account had been “viciously attacked” after it liked tweets including posts critical of the Chinese Communist Party and a 10-second video of a sex act.
The likes remained active for at least an hour and were widely commented on before the pornographic tweet was unliked and then later the others.
Photo: Reuters
Some hours later a spokesman for the embassy released a statement condemning the alleged hack.
“Recently some anti-China elements viciously attacked Ambassador Liu Xiaoming’s Twitter account and employed despicable methods to deceive the public. The Chinese embassy strongly condemns such abominable behavior,” it said.
“The embassy has reported this to Twitter company and urged the latter to make thorough investigations and handle this matter seriously. The embassy reserves the right to take further actions and hope that the public will not believe or spread such rumor,” it said.
Liu republished his embassy’s tweet, adding the caption: “A good anvil does not fear the hammer.”
Twitter declined to comment on the incident.
Twitter is among numerous social media platforms banned in China, but its diplomatic missions and staff around the world maintain accounts.
Liu set up his Twitter account in October last year. He has more than 85,000 followers.
The account primarily shares stories from Chinese state media, praising updates of China’s COVID-19 response and rejections of reports on China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
A video clip of Liu denying human rights atrocities in Xinjiang during an interview with the BBC, even when confronted with drone footage, was widely shared on Twitter in July.
Liu is known as one of China’s most outspoken diplomats, using a pugnacious approach in media interviews and online to defend his government.
A Twitter user “liking” a tweet on the platform does not republish it, but the tweet does show up in a list easily accessible on their profile.
It can be relatively easy for a Twitter user to accidentally like a tweet, but that tweet must show up on their feed.
Liu follows just 14 accounts, mostly Chinese state media or official Chinese and UK government accounts, and the UK royal family.
Additional reporting by AP
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