State-owned Chinese newspaper publishes jeering cartoon mocking Australia's human rights record

State-run Chinese newspaper The Global Times has published a second cartoon attacking the reputation of Australian soldiers and Australia's record on human rights.

The latest cartoon, which will again ratchet up tensions between the two countries, shows an Australian soldier holding up a sign reading "human rights" for a camera.

Not seen on the camera lens is what the Australian Defence Force member is standing on, a covered-up body with blood seeping out.

The brutal cartoon from artist Liu Rui is making reference to the findings of the Brereton report, which alleged Australian special forces soldiers committed 39 murders in Afghanistan.

READ MORE: What's behind Australia and China's political feud

Earlier this week, The Global Times published a cartoon showing a blind-folded kangaroo under the headline of an editorial which read: "Australia gets hopping mad instead of punishing its war criminals."

The editorial also warned Australian ships to stay away from the South China Sea.

The latest move from the newspaper comes after a message from Prime Minister Scott Morrison to Chinese Australians was reportedly deleted by technology giant WeChat.

In the message posted on Tuesday night, Mr Morrison expressed his objections to a doctored image of an Australian solider slitting a child's throat, which was posted on Twitter on Monday.

The Prime Minister said in the WeChat message that Australia was handling the allegations outlined in the Brereton Inquiry in an "honest and transparent way".

The ABC reports the WeChat message is no longer available.

In what has been an extraordinary week of aggression between Australia and its most valuable trading partner China, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg warned Australians would pay a price if not relationship could not be salvaged.

"Certainly, that is a very challenging relationship right now," Mr Frydenberg said.

"We want to get that relationship back to where it was and we're willing to engage in a respectful bilateral dialogue.

"But obviously that is difficult at this time."