Three Chinese warships are now being closely monitored off Australia’s north-east coast after a Chinese fighter jet aggressively deployed flares near an Australian surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea.

Former DFAT Australia-China Council Scholar Andrew Phelan told Peter Fegan on 4BC Breakfast, "Our geostrategic circumstances are the worst they've been since pre-World War II, except this is on a much bigger scale. I think the first question we ought to ask is, does China have a grand strategy?"

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