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

Taipei lauded the State Department for removing a phrase from a fact sheet saying the US does “not support Taiwan independence,” an episode that threatens to renew sparring between Washington and Beijing over the self-ruled archipelago.

The US State Department last week scrubbed a statement from its website that said it doesn’t support Taiwan’s independence, sparking fury in China, which called on the United States to reinstate the message.

The State Department's web page also added a references to U.S. support for Taiwan's membership in international organizations "where applicable."

Taiwan expressed approval after the U.S. State Department removed a statement on its website that said it does not support the island’s independence. The phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence” was removed from a department fact sheet last week.