U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping arrive for a meeting in Germany. The United States apologized for mistakenly describing Xi as the leader of Taiwan, China said today.

BEIJING — The United States has apologized for mistakenly describing Chinese President Xi Jinping as the leader of Taiwan, China said today. Chinese scholars said the error shows a lack of competence in the White House that is not conducive to healthy U.S.-China relations.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China asked the United States for an explanation of the mistake, and the U.S. said it was a technical error. Washington apologized and corrected the error, Geng said at a daily news briefing.

In a statement issued Saturday about a meeting in Germany between Xi and U.S. President Donald Trump, the White House press office described Xi as president of the Republic of China, the formal name for Taiwan. Communist China, led by Xi, is called the People’s Republic of China.

The issue is particularly sensitive because Beijing insists that Taiwan is part of its territory.

“It is basic knowledge for those working in diplomacy, yet this isolated incident shows how incompetent the White House staff are, how casual they are, and how poorly coordinated they are,” said Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at China Renmin University. “It will only make the Chinese people look down upon the American government for it to make such a low-level mistake.”

The gaffe has gone largely unreported in China because the local media have no motivation to mock Trump, Shi said.