TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Japan and the EU highlighted rising tensions in the South China Sea and the importance of international maritime law during a UN Security Council meeting on Monday.

Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Kunimitsu Ayano said Tokyo “remains seriously concerned about the situation in the East China Sea and the South China Sea,” according to the Japanese foreign ministry. Kunimitsu reiterated Japan’s “strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion.”

This includes impeding freedom of navigation and overflight, Kunimitsu added.

The deputy foreign minister said Japan would continue partnering with the UN to “maintain and reinforce a free and open maritime order based on the rule of law.”

Stavros Lambrinidis, the EU ambassador to the UN, said tensions in the South China Sea “hinder critical shipping routes while challenging the rules-based international order,” per the EU delegation to the UN.

Lambrinidis said the EU adheres to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), “which sets out the universal and unified legal framework within which all activities in oceans and seas must be carried out.”

China's deputy UN ambassador Sun Lei said Kunimitsu’s remarks were "unwarranted" and that they "completely confound black and white," Reuters reported. Sun added that the EU representative should "refrain from issuing unsubstantiated and irresponsible remarks on the South China Sea issue."

"In reality, the situation in the East and South China Seas remains stable overall and the South China Sea stands as one of the freest shipping lanes in the world," Sun said.

Taiwan’s defense ministry said a formation of Chinese naval vessels, including Luyang II-class guided-missile destroyers and Jiangkai II-class guided-missile frigates, entered waters southwest of Penghu on Monday. The ministry said forces were deployed to monitor the situation.

Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said several People’s Liberation Army ships had operated in waters southwest of Penghu in recent days, conducting drills in coordination with Chinese military aircraft.

The defense ministry tracked 22 Chinese military aircraft and nine naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Monday and 6 a.m. on Tuesday. Twenty of the 22 PLA aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the country’s northern and southwestern air defense identification zone, according to the ministry.

In response, Taiwan deployed aircraft, naval ships, and coastal-based missile systems to monitor PLA activity. So far this month, the defense ministry has tracked Chinese military aircraft 216 times and ships 225 times.