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

While it has no claims to the South China Sea, Australia has aligned itself close to the US and its allies in saying that China's assertions have no legal basis. "Australia expects all countries, including China, to operate their militaries in a safe and professional manner," the department said in a statement on Thursday.

Australia has raised concerns with China over what it said on Thursday were "unsafe and unprofessional" actions by a Chinese fighter jet towards an Australian maritime patrol in the South China Sea two days earlier,