Manila, July 12 -- A coalition of 14 countries, including the US and Japan have affirmed the 2016 international arbitral ruling that invalidated Beijing's sweeping claims in the South China Sea and described them as having "no legal basis."

July 12 marks the tenth anniversary of the award issued by the Arbitral Tribunal constituted under Annex VII to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) concerning the South China Sea.

The joint statement was released on Sunday by Japan, Australia, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Philippines, Romania, Slovenia, United Kingdom, and United States of America.

It reiterated their commitment to "a free and open Indo-Pacific that is peaceful, stable, an...