Australia has conducted a "freedom of navigation" flight near artificial islands China is building in the South China Sea. Analysts said the move could focus attention on Japan's own decisions in the region.
In a radio transmission recorded on Nov. 25 during a reporting assignment in the South China Sea and released Tuesday by the British Broadcasting Corp., the pilot of a Royal Australian Air Force surveillance plane can be heard addressing the Chinese Navy.
"China Navy, China Navy. We are an Australian aircraft exercising international freedom of navigation rights, in international airspace in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Convention, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Over," the pilot says in the recording.
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