Chinese officials blasted the U.S. for apparently removing a phrase from the State Department website rejecting Taiwan's independence on Sunday.

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.

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.