The U.S. Navy plans to conduct patrols within 12 nautical miles (22 km) of artificial islands in the South China Sea about twice a quarter to remind China and other countries about U.S. rights under international law, a U.S. defense official said Monday.

"We're going to come down to about twice a quarter or a little more than that," said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about navy operational plans.

"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.