U.S. President George W. Bush has upset both the Chinese and Taiwanese by referring to both as countries and then to Taiwan as a republic.
The mistake was made during a speech on trade to the the U-S State department on Thursday in which he mentioned the entry of Taiwan and China into the World Trade Organisation.
Taiwan separated from mainland China in 1949 when the communists took power but the People's Republic of China regards self-ruled Taiwan as a part of its own territory.