The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka had their official Twitter handle reinstated on Tuesday after the embassy made a solemn representation twice to the social media platform, which said the suspension was a "systematic mistake."

The Twitter handle (@ChinaEmbSL) had been suspended on Monday.

The embassy said that they regretted this "systematic mistake," and added that "freedom of speech" must be honoured.

“Freedom of speech should not be misused to spread groundless, racist or hate speech, nor be treated with "double standards," the embassy said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Embassy feels regretful to this “systematic mistake”, and would like to reiterate that the #FreedomOfSpeech ” must be honored, while not be misused to spread groundless, racial or hatred speech, nor be treated with #doublestandards ”. — Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka (@ChinaEmbSL) April 14, 2020

Twitter, who said it was a "systematic mistake," restored the embassy account in 24 hours and apologized, according to the embassy.

The Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka had engaged in a "war of words" with various users on Twitter before the suspension and in recent days it was posting information about the pandemic.

On Monday, the embassy tweeted and shared what the World Economic Forum said, "Please don't politicize this virus. It's like playing with fire."

“Whether or not Twitter freezes its account will not affect the unremitting efforts of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka, which is dedicated to China-Sri Lankan friendship and pragmatic cooperation, nor will it hinder China's leading role in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” the embassy said.