The Chinese military carried out its first-ever bomber formation patrol with its fighter jets over the disputed South China Sea as a warning to the Philippines after its navy conducted joint patrols with the US and Japan.
China, which claims the most of the South China Sea, remains in a prolonged maritime dispute with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, all of whom have counterclaims in the strategic region, that holds major 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.
