Beijing has blasted a joint statement released by 14 countries regarding the "2016 South China Sea arbitration award", urging those countries to "stop stirring up trouble over the South China Sea issue" and "cease undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea".
"China urges the relevant countries to earnestly respect China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
The United States, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Romania, Slovenia and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement earlier on Sunday.
The 14-nation joint statement claimed that the "award" rendered 10 years ago by the "arbitral tribunal in the South China Sea arbitration" is "a significant milestone", and that "there is no legal basis for China's expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea".
In response, the Foreign Ministry noted that, "If the 'award' were to be taken as a standard, many countries' islands and reefs would be denied the basis for claiming maritime rights and interests.