White House's flagging history knowledge

Posted By Carolyn O'Hara Wednesday, November 15, 2006 - 5:29 PM Share

What is it with this White House and Asia gaffes? Back in April, during Hu Jintao's much-hyped visit to Washington, an American announcer on the White House's South Lawn referred to China's national anthem as that of "the Republic of China" - also known as Taiwan.

Now, just hours before Bush was set to leave for Asia to attend a major economic summit, the White House Web site was caught in yet another major mistake. Last night, the flags of the three countries Bush is to visit this week - Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore - were displayed on the White House's site. The problem? The flag shown for Vietnam was actually the flag for South Vietnam, the country that ceased to exist in 1975. Once the FT's Observer pointed out the mistake to the White House, the flag was swiftly replaced. Awkward, huh? Then again, it's not like Bush threw up in the lap of his host or anything.

EXPLORE:SOUTHEAST ASIA, BUSH ADMINISTRATION, TRADE, U.S. FOREIGN POLICY

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