U.S. bombers fly over manmade South China Sea islands

By Jacqueline Klimas, Jacqueline Klimas

Published December 20, 2015

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Two U.S. bombers recently flew over manmade islands in the South China Sea, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday.

The overflight is the second U.S. operation in the past month in the region where the Chinese claim ownership of several islands that the international community does not recognize as sovereign land.

Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook told reporters on Thursday that the U.S. conducts B-52 flights in international air space over the South China Sea "all the time."

"There was an effort made by Chinese ground controllers to reach out to that aircraft and that aircraft continued its mission unabated. Nothing changed," Cook said.