China Suggests That Syrian Bombing Victim is Fake, Used for Western Propaganda

China’s state-run media has questioned the veracity of the moving images of a young boy from Aleppo who narrowly survived an airstrike in Syria.

In a report by state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), it was suggested that photos could have been faked and are now being used as part of a Western “propaganda war.”

The particular video, which showed a rescued 3-year-old boy named Omran Daqneesh from a bombing in the district of Qaterji in Aleppo by Russian or Syian regime forces, has been widely shared in social media and has sparked public outrage from people all over the world.

While the international community has expressed empathy and support for the young boy who reportedly lost his brother in the attack, China has a very different view, reports the Telegraph.

“Critics have suggested that [the video] is part of a propaganda war, aimed at creating a ‘humanitarian’ excuse for Western countries to become involved in Syria,” stated the report by CCTV.

“The workers did not make rapid rescue efforts and instead quickly set up a camera,” it added. The report even had the tagline: “Posed picture? Exaggeration? The video is suspected of being a fake”.

According to the report, the Syrian Civil Defence, who captured the photos had “questionable independence,” linking the group to the UK.

The report stated:

“It may sound like a group organised by the Syrians, actually, it is led by an organization called ‘Crisis Rescue’, whose founder and leading official is a UK military official.”

Syria has an ongoing multi-sided armed conflict which developed from the civil unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring. Calls for President Bashar al-Assad’s removal resulted in violent repression of the protesters which later escalated to an armed conflict.

China, which has been vocal with its support to Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian government, has also been openly critical to Western interventions in foreign wars.