BEIJING (AP) – Chinese scholars say the White House staff revealed its incompetence and lack of depth in confusing the name of the country Chinese President Xi Jinping leads.
A White House transcript issued Saturday described him as president of the Republic of China, the formal name of the government on Taiwan. Xi leads the People’s Republic of China, founded in 1949 after the Republic of China forces fled to the island of Taiwan during a bloody civil war.
The mistake was in the header of the transcript, but not in the full text nor in President Donald Trump’s remarks to Xi in Hamburg, Germany.
Renmin University international relations expert Shi Yinhong said Monday the gaffe is indicative of how the White House operates under Trump and is not conducive to China-U.S. relations.