Beijing Says U.S. Apologized for Confusing China With Taiwan
By AUSTIN RAMZYJULY 10, 2017
HONG KONG — A Chinese official said on Monday that the United States had apologized for a White House statement
that misidentified China’s leader, Xi Jinping, as president of the Republic of China — the formal name for Taiwan.
"The United States side apologized and said this was a technological error
that has already been corrected." The erroneous reference was in the heading of a White House transcript, released on Saturday, of presidential remarks before a bilateral meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi at the Group of 20 session in Hamburg, Germany.
And another White House statement called the prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, "President Abe of Japan."
The Republic of China flub was awkward for Beijing, which considers Taiwan part of its territory.
The United States severed formal ties with Taiwan in 1979 as part of the so-called
One China policy under which it recognizes Beijing as the government of China.
In December, Donald Trump, as president-elect, accepted a telephone call from President Tsai Ing-wen
of Taiwan, which broke with decades of United States precedent and was considered a snub for Beijing.