Drawing: Niels Bo Bojesen/Jyllands-Posten
DENMARK鈥揂 Danish newspaper refused to apologize to China on Tuesday over a satirical cartoon it ran about the deadly new virus that has killed dozens and infected thousands more.
The cartoon, published in Jyllands-Posten on Monday, depicted a Chinese flag with the yellow stars normally found in the upper left corner exchanged for drawings of the new coronavirus.
China鈥檚 embassy in Denmark called the cartoon 鈥渁n insult to China鈥� that 鈥渉urts the feelings of the Chinese people.鈥�
The embassy said the cartoon crossed the 鈥渆thical boundary of free speech鈥� and demanded that the paper and cartoonist Niels Bo Bojesen 鈥渞eproach themselves for their mistake and publicly apologize to the Chinese people.鈥�
After breaking out in the city of Wuhan, the official number of confirmed cases of the new virus reached more than 4,000 in China as of Tuesday, with over 100 deaths.
Some 50 infections have also been confirmed elsewhere in Asia, Europe and North America.
On Tuesday, Jyllands-Posten鈥檚 chief editor Jacob Nybroe said they would not 鈥渄ream of鈥� poking fun at the situation in China but also refused to apologize.
鈥淲e cannot apologize for something we don鈥檛 think is wrong. We have no intention of being demeaning or to mock, nor do we think that the drawing does,鈥� Nybroe said.
鈥淎s far as I can see, this here is about different forms of cultural understanding.鈥�
Several Danish politicians backed the paper, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen quoted by the Politiken newspaper as saying 鈥渨e have freedom of expression in Denmark. Also to draw.鈥�
Jylland-Posten is no stranger to controversy. In 2005, it published several cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, which later contributed to violent protests in some Muslim countries.