The Philippine foreign ministry said on Friday it was "concerned" over what it described as "unsafe manoeuvres" and the use of flares by a Chinese air force plane against an Australian Air Force aircraft in the South China Sea.

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 mili

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