Hanoi on Thursday again called on the Cambodian government to quash anti-Vietnamese protests by Khmer Krom activists in Phnom Penh, more of which are slated to be held early next month.

The comments came the same day as the Cambodian Foreign Ministry announced that Vietnam was withdrawing an embassy spokesman who had made the controversial comments that sparked the protests.

According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, a Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Thursday asked Cambodia to “take effective measures to stop [the] wrongful actions of protesters, which are not in line with the traditional friendship and sound relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia”.

Le Hai Binh, who made the remarks during a press briefing in Hanoi, was referring to numerous protests held by Khmer Krom activists outside Phnom Penh’s Vietnamese Embassy in recent months.