Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Wednesday that she expressed concern during her meeting with her Chinese counterpart in Manila over Beijing conducting a test launch in the South Pacific of a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, describing the launch as 'destabilizing'.

Wong made this statement a day after she condemned Beijing's 'dangerous behavior' in her comments on a clash between Filipino and Chinese sailors at a disputed coral reef in the South China Sea, according to Agence France-Presse.

A Chinese submarine earlier this month launched a ballistic missile with a dummy warhead that traveled deep into the Pacific Ocean.

Wong told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Manila: 'We have made clear publicly and directly to China that we regard the missile test as destabilizing, and I raised that directly with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in my discussions with him yesterday.' She added: 'We want a region of peace, stability and prosperity. We want a region where countries, and all powers, including major powers, abide by international law, particularly the law of the sea.'

Australia earlier said it had not received adequate notification of the missile test, while a group of Pacific Island nations condemned it, considering it contrary to the region's desire to remain free of nuclear weapons tests.

Observers speculated that the missile fell in a patch of ocean between the Solomon Islands, Nauru and Tuvalu.

In response to a question about the clash on Monday at Second Thomas Shoal, where Manila reported that Chinese personnel struck a Filipino sailor on the head with a baton, Wong reiterated that Australia has 'genuine concerns about destabilizing and risky behavior'.

Wong announced on Tuesday during a visit to a Philippine coast guard vessel that Australia would donate advanced drones and provide training for their operators.

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