China accused Australia of deliberately "provoking" China in the South China Sea this week, and of "invading" and "breaking into" the homes of others, its defence ministry said on Friday. The ministry spokesperson said Australia was spreading "false narratives".

Australia has protested what it describes as an unsafe and unprofessional interaction over the South China Sea where a Chinese fighter is accused of releasing flares that endangered an Australian military surveillance plane.

China has fired back at Australia's claims the People's Liberation Army acted unprofessionally during an aviation encounter with a RAAF aircraft.