A Virgin Australia pilot is responsible for alerting authorities about Chinese live fire drills off Australia’s east coast last week, a Senate Estimates hearing has revealed.

Air traffic authorities discovered Chinese warships were conducting a live-fire exercise in the Tasman Strait thanks to an alert by a Virgin pilot.

China defence ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said on Sunday that Australian complaints over recent Chinese live-fire naval drills in international waters between Australia and New Zealand were "hyped up" and "inconsistent with the facts".

Australia's defense forces, joined by New Zealand, have been monitoring Chinese navy vessels since they were spotted last week.

Australia accused China on Saturday of failing to give satisfactory reasons for what it called inadequate notice of a live-fire drill in waters between Australia and New Zealand that forced airlines to divert flights.

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.

A Chinese naval cruiser fired live rounds Saturday during a task force drill in the sea between Australia and New Zealand, government officials said, prompting an alert to commercial air