US to conduct 2 patrols per quarter near China’s islands: Official

The United States Navy will carry out patrols near China's artificial islands in South China Sea about "twice a quarter," a US official says.

The defense official told Reuters on Monday the patrols will be conducted within 12 nautical miles of the artificial islands.

The official noted that this was the "right amount" and could not be considered a "constant poke in the eye."

"We're going to come down to about twice a quarter or a little more than that," the official said. "That's the right amount to make it regular but not a constant poke in the eye. It meets the intent to regularly exercise our rights under international law and remind the Chinese and others about our view," the official said.

US Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said earlier that such moves will continue with the aim of upholding “the principle of freedom of navigation.”

“That’s our interest there… It's to demonstrate that we will uphold the principle of freedom of navigation," Rhodes said while speaking at event in Washington.

Beijing has been warning Washington over its “provocative” acts that included sending a guided-missile destroyer last week within the 12 nautical miles of one of China’s artificial islands in the region that is gripped by territorial disputes, including Taiwan.

Chinese military commanders have argued that a small incident in the region could spark war between the two powers.

US stance exposing ‘hypocrisy’

Washington accuses Beijing of conducting a massive “land reclamation” program through building artificial islands in the South China Sea, saying that China’s projects could further militarize the region.

“There is a problem however with US intransigence regarding China's claims,” an anthropology professor told Press TV on Monday.

Taiwan “lays claim to the same territory and has built on and occupied islands in the South China Sea years before the Peoples Republic of China began similar reclamations. In addition the countries that claim the territory today did not even exist at the time China's claims to the territory were first announced,” Dennis Etler said.“The irony of course is that the US has never protested Chinese claims to the South China Sea when they emanate from Taipei, but has a conniption fit when they emanate from Beijing.”

“This double standard fully exposes the hypocrisy of the US position and its lack of legitimacy."

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