President George W. Bush on Wednesday reassured Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, that a US shipment of nuclear missile components to Taiwan in 2006 was a “mistake”.

Stephen Hadley, the White House national security adviser, said Mr Bush made the comments to Mr Hu in a phone call on Wednesday morning. The Pentagon on Tuesday said the US had mistakenly sent electrical fuses for intercontinental ballistic missiles, instead of a consignment of helicopter batteries.