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.

Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong says her government has warned airlines flying between Australian airports and New Zealand to beware of Chinese warships conducting a live-fire exercise in the Tasman Sea.

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