The editor-in-chief of Chinese government mouthpiece The Global Times enjoyed lunch at the Australian embassy in Beijing on Wednesday as a guest of our ambassador.
Australia's top diplomat in China, Graham Fletcher, invited outspoken Australian critic Hu Xijin to dine with him a few hours before the tabloid decided that 'China-Australia relations need to improve'.
Editor Hu and his paper published a piece recently saying Scott Morrison should 'slap himself in the face' after he demanded an apology over a fake image of an Australian soldier tweeted by a Chinese official.
Editor of The Global Times, Hu Xijin (pictured), has been one of Australia's loudest critics in China recently