China calls for investigation after ambassador’s Twitter account ‘likes’ porn

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Daily US Times: The Chinese embassy in the UK has called on Twitter to investigate after its ambassador’s official account appeared to “like” a pornographic post.

The apparent sexually explicit “like” from the ambassador’s account was first identified by a London-based human rights campaigner on Wednesday. It quickly set off a storm on Twitter as users speculated about whether ambassador Liu Xiaoming’s account had been hacked.

The Twitter account also appeared to “like” at least one other post which was critical of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. It is not clear when the ”likes” first appeared how long they remained active.

A “like” on Twitter often used as bookmarks and does not necessarily mean that the user is endorsing the content.

All of the “liked” tweets on the account have now been removed, apart from just two of the ambassador’s own posts from October 2019. Liu Xiaoming has more than 85,000 followers on his official account.

The Chinese embassy in London asked for Twitter to open an investigation in a statement Wednesday.

The statement said: “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.”

“The Embassy has reported this to [Twitter] 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 a rumor,” the statement added.

Ambassador Liu himself retweeted the statement from the Chinese embassy, adding cryptically that “a good anvil does not fear the hammer.”

A Twitter spokesman told that there was nothing for them to comment on at present.

‘Wolf warrior’ diplomacy

Twitter is one of several US-based social media platforms that are blocked in China, along with Instagram and Facebook. Despite this, Chinese diplomats have increasingly been using Twitter to promote the country’s interests around the world.

In 2009, Liu was appointed China’s ambassador to the United Kingdom. An outspoken defender of Beijing in the media and online, he has been a keen adopter of China’s new breed of “wolf warrior” diplomacy, which encourages a rapid and aggressive response to any perceived slights against the government in China.

For example, during a debate in July over whether the United Kingdom should ban Chinese tech giant Huawei from its 5G network, Liu said at a news conference that “the way you are treating Huawei will be followed very closely by other Chinese businesses.”

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