Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has played down a diplomatic row with China despite a public rebuke over Australia's stance on the new air defence zone covering the East China Sea.
In an unusual move, Ms Bishop's Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Friday publicly reproached her in front of the media for expressing concern about the defence zone, announced last month, which covers islands claimed by both Beijing and Tokyo.
Mr Wang accused Australia of "jeopardising bilateral mutual trust" and said "the entire Chinese society and the general public are deeply dissatisfied" with her comments.
Footage of the press conference aired by the ABC shows that reporters were asked to leave the room as Ms Bishop responded.
"I must take issue with you on the matter of the East China Sea," she said before the cameras clicked off and reporters were ushered out of the room.
Ms Bishop has brushed off the scolding, telling reporters afterwards that her talks with top Chinese officials were wide-ranging and that as friends, Australia and China can be frank with one another.
"And at the end of the four hours, I came away convinced that our relationship is strong, it is robust, and, as friends, we can speak our minds to each other," she said on Saturday.
She said talk about the Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) took up only "a small proportion" of the talks but held firm in her criticism of the zone.
"Australia is concerned that there be peace and stability in our region, and we don't want to see any escalation of the tensions, we want to see a de-escalation of tensions," she said.
Ms Bishop - fresh from talks with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa aimed at easing strained relations with that country in the wake of spying revelations - dismissed suggestions that the ADIZ dispute was more evidence foreign policy was not her government's strong suit.
"I couldn't disagree with you more," she said.
"The relationship with Indonesia has moved to another level as a result of the meeting I had with Minister Natalegawa on Thursday.
"These are issues that have been presented to us as the new government and we're dealing with them."
Australia last month summoned China's ambassador to voice opposition to the ADIZ, joining the US, the European Union, Japan and South Korea, who also criticised it.
Beijing blasted the move, demanding that Canberra "immediately correct its mistake" while warning that ties could be hurt.
China is Australia's biggest trading partner.
