Two US B-52 strategic bombers have flown near Chinese artificial islands in the South China Sea, ignoring calls to “get away” from Beijing’s airspace, the Pentagon said, claiming it was a “routine mission”.

Two US B-52 strategic bombers have flown near Chinese artificial islands in the South China Sea, ignoring calls to “get away” from Beijing’s airspace, the Pentagon said, claiming the “routine mission” was in accordance with international treaties.

The Pentagon points out that it regards the flights near the Chinese manmade islands as fully legitimate because from a US point of view, the airspace over the islands is a part of international airspace. The US military spokesman added that the B-52s did not get within 12 miles of the islands.

“We conduct B-52 flights in international airspace in that part of the world all the time,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said at a news briefing. “There was one B-52 flight...there was an effort made by Chinese ground controllers to reach out to that aircraft and that aircraft continued its mission unabated. Nothing changed.”

The Chinese military contacted the bombers, urging them to “get away from our islands,” according to a US official who spoke to The Hill.

The overflight took place overnight on November 8-9, another Pentagon spokesman Bill Urban specified, saying there were two bombers conducting a “routine mission”.

The incident comes around two weeks after a serious incident involving the US destroyer USS Lassen, which sailed close to the artificial islands. China was extremely critical of the US Navy’s actions.