Cambodia condemns Taiwan's bid to join UN

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Cambodia Wednesday condemned Taiwan's bid to join the United Nations, saying the move threatened regional stability.

"This hazardous manoeuvre constitutes an act of provocation against China and triggers an extremely tense and dangerous situation in the cross-Taiwan Straits," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

China is one of Cambodia's strongest allies, funneling hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the impoverished country, while Phnom Penh has repeatedly backed Beijing's "one-China" policy.

China considers Taiwan a renegade province and has pledged to recover it, by force if necessary.

The foreign ministry also reiterated that it considered Taiwan "an integral part of China and supports peaceful reunification of Taiwan to the China mainland".

"Cambodia strongly condemns any dangerous move in all forms and manifestations which undermines China's unity and territorial integrity," it said.

Taiwan, under its official name the Republic of China, lost its UN seat to China in 1971.

But independence-leaning Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian told a visiting US delegation last month that he planned to hold a referendum next year on joining the UN under the name "Taiwan" despite warnings that such a move could stoke tensions across the Taiwan Strait.