MANILA, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Naval vessels from the Philippines and United States conducted a joint sail through parts of the South China Sea lying within the Southeast Asian nation's exclusive economic zone, Manila's military said on Monday. It was the first time the Philippines and Washington have carried out a joint sail in waters west of Palawan island, the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Western Command said. The display of cooperation between the US and Philippines comes at a time of heightened tension between Manila and Beijing, which claims much of the South China Sea. China has built militarised, manmade islands in the South China Sea and its claim of historic sovereignty overlaps with the exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. The Philippines won an international arbitration award against China in 2016, after a tribunal said Beijing's sweeping claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea had no legal basis.

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Persons: Rizal, US Navy Alrleigh Burke, Ralph Johnson, Karen Lema, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Armed Forces, Western Command, US Navy, Philippine Navy, Pacific Navy, The Philippines, China, South China, Thomson Locations: MANILA, Philippines, United States, South China, Washington, Palawan, Manila, Beijing, Philippine, China, South, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia