The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America, Australia, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, the Republic of the Philippines, Romania, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Philippines-China South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal Award.
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We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific that is peaceful, stable, and rules-based, anchored in international law, and commemorate the 10th anniversary of the July 12, 2016, Arbitral Tribunal’s landmark and unanimous decision on the South China Sea constituted under Annex VII of UNCLOS.
We reaffirm that maritime disputes must be resolved peacefully and in accordance with UNCLOS. We reaffirm that the Award rendered ten years ago by the Arbitral Tribunal is a significant milestone and is final, legally binding, and definitive between China and the Philippines with respect to the maritime entitlements and claims addressed by the Arbitral Tribunal.
We reaffirm the Arbitral Tribunal’s decision that there is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, including those based on “historic rights”. We underscore the importance of upholding freedom of navigation and overflight, as well as other internationally lawful uses of the sea, as reflected in UNCLOS.
