China demands apology for ‘satirical’ cartoon in Denmark newspaper

Bladtegnere om Kina-tegning: Den er »fantastisk« og »elegant« https://t.co/2kMfO8OhYy pic.twitter.com/SDGgZyZPvx

— Jyllands-Posten (@jyllandsposten) January 28, 2020

China demandes a public apology from Denmark newspaper Jyllands-Posten after it published a satirical cartoon depicting the five stars in the national flag of the Republic of China as coronavirus particles last Monday.

“We express our strong indignation and demand that Jyllands-posten and Niels Bo Bojesen reproach themselves for their mistake and publicly apologize to the Chinese people,” the Chinese Embassy in Denmark said in a statement.

The Chinese Embassy in Denmark said in a statement that Jyllands-Posten and Danish artist Niels Bo Bojesen should apologize to the Chinese people for the satirical drawing, claiming that it’s “lacking any form of sympathy or empathy” and it’s an “insult to China and hurts the feelings of the Chinese people.”

The embassy also stated that the illustration published by the daily newspaper “has crossed the bottom line of civilized society and the ethical boundary of free speech and offends human conscience.”

Jyllands-Posten managing editor Jacob Nybroe refused to apologize for the cartoon that the newspaper published, and said that the paper did not intend to make fun of the situation that China, where the outbreak originated from which has killed 106 people and infected thousands of others.

“We cannot apologize for something that we don’t believe is wrong,” Nybroe told Danish newswire Ritzau. “We have no intention of demeaning or mocking the situation in China and we don’t think the drawing does that.”

Danish politicians have expressed their support for the newspaper, stating that freedom of speech has been prevalent in the country ever since. Conservative Party leader Søren Pape Poulsen wrote in Danish on Twitter: “Full support for Jyllands-Posten.”

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that Denmark has a very strong tradition of freedom of speech. “I have nothing to say on the matter other than [to note that] we have a very strong tradition in Denmark not just for freedom of speech but also for freedom of satire, and we’ll continue to have that in the future,” she said.