The caption reads, "Who's next?" in French. Many websites and Twitter users are deeming the imagery antisemitic, which allegedly was first published by French far-right extremist and Holocaust denier Alain Sorel in 2014, according to the French monitor Conspiracy Watch.The embassy later released a statement that their Twitter account was "falsified," adding that the tweet was disseminated in error and not of their own volition.Ce soir, le compte Twitter de l'Ambassade de #Chine en France a posté une illustration complotiste bien connue avant de l'effacer.Ce dessin suggère que la situation à #HongKong est en réalité une déstabilisation orchestrée par les et... !#Thread pic.twitter.com/gn4ZffKEhN
— Conspiracy Watch (@conspiration) May 24, 2020
"Clarification: Someone falsified the official Chinese Embassy Twitter account by posting a cartoon titled 'Who's Next?'" the embassy wrote in a pinned tweet. "The Embassy wishes to condemn it and always sticks to the principle of truthfulness, objectivity and rationality of information."They did not note if the account was hacked or if the tweet came from within, however, unauthorized nonetheless.The tweet comes amid rising tensions between the United States and China regarding China's handling of the coronavirus outbreak.Friction between the US and China has been on the rise for years – after all, US President Donald Trump announced a trade war on China in 2018 – but it has gotten much worse in the wake of COVID-19, with the sides trading barbs and blaming one another.US President Donald Trump rails against China in his daily press conferences, pointing to a cover-up of information about when the coronavirus outbreak began and to a hypothesis from US intelligence agencies that the virus was accidentally released from a laboratory in Wuhan.Chinese officials have spread unfounded theories about COVID-19 originating in the US or Europe, messages taunting the West as weak and videos mocking the American response to the virus. And this is after two years of a trade war.Meanwhile, Israel is dealing with continued pressure from the US over Chinese investments in Israeli technology and infrastructure.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sprung some of that pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their statements to the press ahead of their meeting in Jerusalem two weeks prior. He spoke of American and Israeli cooperation fighting the coronavirus pandemic and then commented: “You’re a great partner. You share information, unlike other countries that obfuscate and try to hide that information, and we’ll talk about that country, too.”The US has long been concerned with China using investments in Israeli innovations to give itself a military and technological edge, as well as its ability to gather intelligence, whether by taking advantage of cybersecurity weaknesses, reverse-engineering technology to which it gains access, or physical proximity to sensitive areas by Chinese operatives on infrastructure construction sites.In response, Trump and Pompeo last year said intelligence sharing with Israel could be reduced if they are not given reassurances that these concerns have been taken care of.Whereas the tweet may have been sent off in error, the tensions are real and regardless it depicts the Chinese-American war of words in fitting fashion.Lahav Harkov contributed to this report.Éclaircissement: Quelqu'un a falsifié le compte officiel de Twitter de l'Ambassade de Chine en publiant un dessin intitulé "Qui est le prochain?". L'Ambassade tient à le condamner et s'attache toujours au principe de véracité, d'objectivité et de rationalité des informations.
— Ambassade de Chine en France (@AmbassadeChine) May 25, 2020