The United States, Britain and a dozen other countries issued a joint statement Sunday marking the ninth anniversary of a landmark 2016 international ruling that rejected China's sweeping territorial claims in the South China Sea, while Beijing again dismissed the decision as "null and void", reported by news agency AP.

The Philippines has commemorated the anniversary of a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated China’s claims in the South China Sea.

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…