Manila, July 12 -- A coalition of 14 countries marked the 10th anniversary of the landmark arbitral ruling on the South China Sea (SCS) on Sunday, reaffirming that the decision remains legally binding and rejecting China's sweeping maritime claims based on so-called "historic rights."

In a joint statement marking a decade since the historic ruling, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Romania, Slovenia, the United Kingdom and the United States reiterated their commitment to "a free and open Indo-Pacific that is peaceful, stable, and rules-based."

The countries said the July 12, 2016 decision of the arbitral tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the United Nations Conventi...