The U.S. State Department's Taiwan page last week removed a previous reference to not supporting Taiwan's independence.

The State Department told local media the revision was a routine update, not a policy change. But it provoked anger from Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its territory.

China is accusing the United States of a “serious regression” in its policy toward Taiwan after the State Department updated language about the country on its website. The change in question came from an update to a fact sheet about U.