China said it received an apology from U.S. officials after Beijing protested a White House statement that incorrectly identified President Xi Jinping as leader of the Republic of China, instead of the People's Republic of China.
Republic of China is the official name of Taiwan, which Beijing considers a breakaway province awaiting reunification.
"The U.S. side has expressed that they are sorry for this technical error and they have made a correction," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said of the misidentification during a regular news briefing Monday.
VOA asked White House officials to confirm the exchange, but there was no immediate response.
The White House made the error in an official readout of a meeting between President Donald Trump and Xi during the G-20 summit last week in Hamburg, Germany.
Ties between China and the U.S. have suffered because of the American relationship with Taiwan, particularly after President Trump spoke on the phone with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in a break from protocol shortly after his election to the White House.
The United States acknowledges Beijing's official position that Taiwan is part of China, but Washington is also one of the democratic island's most powerful supporters.
The U.S. government recently approved $1.42 billion in arms sales to the island.
