Centering Multiple Inline Elements

Centering works without problems even if there is not one, but several inline elements:

html<div class="parent">
  <span class="child">text</span>
  <span class="child">text</span>
  <span class="child">text</span>
</div>

css.parent {
  text-align: center;
  padding: 10px 0;
  border: 1px solid red;
}
.child {
  border: 1px solid green;
}

Результат:

html<div class="parent">
  <a href="">link 1</a> <a href="">link 2</a>
  <a href="">link 3</a>
</div>

css.parent {
  padding: 10px 0;
  border: 1px solid red;
}