China accused Australia on Friday of deliberately provoking it with a maritime patrol in the disputed South China Sea this week, saying the latter was spreading "false narratives", though Australia maintained its action adhered to international law.

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 in turn accused the Australian plane of "deliberately" intruding into airspace over the disputed Paracel Islands,