BEIJING: The Chinese military for the first time conducted a "bomber formation patrol" with its fighter jets over the disputed South China Sea on Sunday as a “warning” to the Philippines after its navy conducted joint patrols with the US and Japan.

China, which claims most of the South China Sea, is locked in an intractable maritime dispute with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, which have counterclaims over the area that is home to busy regional and international trade routes.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theatre Command announced that it had conducted a bomber formation patrol amid the Philippines' so-called "joint patrols" with external forces -- the first time it has announced such a move, according to the state-run Global Times.

The two-

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