On Saturday, the European Union condemned China for risking South China Sea peace and instructed both parties to follow a 2016 tribunal decision that dismissed much of China's claim to supremacy in the sea, but which Beijing has dismissed.

Last week, the EU unveiled a new strategy aimed at increasing its presence in the Indo-Pacific region to fight China's growing strength. The Philippines complained to China on Friday for declining to remove "threatening" boats suspected to be controlled by maritime militia along the contested Whitsun Reef, which Manila refers to as the Julian Felipe Reef.

"Frictions in the South China Sea, such as the recent arrival of huge Chinese warships at Whitsun Reef, threaten the region's peace and security," an EU spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday.

The EU affirmed its firm opposition to "unilateral acts that threaten regional security and the international rules-based structure."

It instructed both sides to settle conflicts peacefully in compliance with international law, citing a 2016 international arbitration decision that found in favor of the Philippines while discrediting the majority of China's claims in the South China Sea. China dismissed the EU's claim that its ships at Whitsun Reef, also known as Niu'E Jiao in China, posed a threat to peace and stability.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Chinese Mission to the EU affirmed that the reef is part of China's Nansha Islands or the Spratly Islands, and therefore it is "natural and lawful" for Chinese fishing boats to work there and seek shelter from the wind.

The Chinese statement also argued that China's jurisdiction, rights, and interests in the South China Sea were established over a "long period of history and under international law," and it declared the 2016 tribunal decision to be "invalid."

"The South China Sea should not become a weapon for those countries to control and suppress China, let alone a fighting platform for major-power dispute," China said in a statement.

China is greatly worried that Europe and other countries are responding to US Vice President Joe Biden's appeal for a "coordinated response" to China, which has so far manifested itself in the shape of measures over its security crackdown in Hong Kong and persecution of Uyghur Muslims.

In the face of China's mobilizing maritime militia at Whitsun Reef, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month that Washington "continues to stand by its comrade, the Philippines."