TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — High-end jewelry brand Bulgari sparked outrage among Chinese netizens for listing Taiwan and China as separate countries on its website, prompting it to issue a statement on Tuesday (July 11) apologizing for its "errors" and saying the listing had been "corrected immediately."

On its website's listing of stores by country, Bulgari listed Taiwan as a country instead of part of China, sparking outrage on Chinese social media. It soon became the most trending topic on Weibo, where netizens demanded that Bulgari make a "correction" and apologize.

The controversy also prompted China's state-run media, the Global Times, to issue the following statement on social media: "Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory and cannot be classified as a country."

Screenshot of Chinese version of Bulgari webpage shows Taiwan listed as a separate country. (Weibo image)

Bulgari, owned by the French luxury giant LVHM, issued an apology in Chinese on its official Weibo account, saying it "respects China's sovereignty and territorial integrity." It said that "due to management negligence" on its overseas website, there were "errors in store addresses and map labels."

The company wrote that once these "errors" were discovered, they were "corrected immediately." It said it appreciated the "vigilance of netizens," and it is working with third-party international service providers to ensure "the accurate labeling of relevant countries and regions on our overseas website."

However, Chinese state-run media and netizens complained that the apology was insufficient, as it was only issued on its Weibo account and not on platforms outside of China. Some netizens made comments in response to the apology, such as 地瓜熊老六, who wrote: "Bulgari just posted an apology to the Renminbi on Weibo, but didn't post a statement on overseas networks. Is this a victory for justice?"

China insists that government bodies and corporations not list Taiwan as a country. Bulgari is the latest in a growing list of corporations that have consented to China's requests and removed Taiwan's status as a country from their websites.

Apology by Bulgari on July 11. (Weibo image)