Cambodia blasted Taiwan's attempts at UN membership Wednesday, adhering to its "one China" agreement with Beijing, long a friend of Phnom Penh.
Cambodia considers Taiwan a province of China, as do the Chinese, and the island has no diplomatic representation in Cambodia, though businessmen run functional factories and other facilities.
Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong called Taiwan's push for a September referendum at the UN a "scheme to create instability in the region."
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said his party too supports the one-China policy.
"We believe that China has only one representative, which is the People's Republic of China," he said.
"The Taiwanese are also people," said Kem Sokha, president of the new Human Rights Party, "so they have the right to demand to exercise their rights legally, at the national and international level."
"Their internal political issue with mainland China is their affair, and their demand," he added. "It is their right and the world should think about that and accept it."
