Gaffe over China's name: US apologises for mistake

The White House also misspelled UK Prime Minister Theresa May's name as "Teresa May" three times in an official schedule of her visit to the US in January.

Beijing, July 11: The US has apologised for referring to China as "Republic of China" instead of the "People's Republic of China" in the statement after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a Monday press conference that the US admitted that it had made a technical error and had fixed it.

On July 8, the White House said the "Republic of China", instead of the "People's Republic of China" in the statement after Chinese President Xi Jinping met with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, reports the Global Times.

"The Republic of China" is a name that was claimed by the Kuomingtang government from 1912 to 1949 when the Kuomintang was defeated by the Communist Party of China and retreated to Taiwan. There are also speculations as to whether the White House intentionally made the mistake in the light of the US President's previous remarks on Taiwan.

Also on July 8, the White House incorrectly identified Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as "President Abe of Japan" in a news release after Trump's meeting with the Japanese leader.

The White House also misspelled UK Prime Minister Theresa May's name as "Teresa May" three times in an official schedule of her visit to the US in January.

The gaffe was one of a handful of misnomers issued by the White House during the summit meeting. Mr Trump's Instagram account briefly identified Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore as President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, Singapore news outlets reported.

IANS