Airlines have been contacted by Australia’s air traffic control agency warning them of reports of live fire off the country’s east coast where a Chinese navy task group has been operating, the agency and Australian officials said.

China's Defense Ministry said Sunday that Australia had made “unreasonable accusations” and deliberately hyped the situation after three planes headed to New Zealand changed course in midflight because of live-fire drills by the Chinese navy.

The Chinese naval exercises, in international waters off Australia’s eastern coast, while legal, have nonetheless sparked alarm in Australia and New Zealand.