Japan and the Netherlands have issued a joint statement containing veiled criticism of China's construction of artificial islands in disputed waters in the South China Sea.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte "share concerns caused by any unilateral actions, including the threat or use of force and coercion, that change the status quo and raise tensions in the East and South China Sea," the leaders said Tuesday in a statement issued after a meeting in Tokyo.

The two leaders "stress the importance to settle disputes peacefully and in accordance with international law," the statement said, without referring to China's muscle-flexing in asserting territorial claims in the two seas.