Beijing, Nov. 16 -- The Chinese military on Sunday urged the Philippines to immediately stop provoking incidents and further escalating tensions in the South China Sea, state media reported.

This comes amid the Philippines, United States and Japan conducting another round of maritime drills in the South China Sea, which is known as the West Philippine Sea by the Philippines.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command on Friday organized a bomber formation to conduct a routine patrol in the South China Sea, according to a spokesperson quoted by Xinhua.

The patrol in the South China Sea was conducted amid the Philippines' so-called "joint patrols" with external forces, the spokesperson said.

The 13th Multilateral Mariti...