CHINA yesterday voiced deep concern and strong discontent over the United States ?°mistakenly?± shipping cone-shaped fuses for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) to Taiwan.

?°We have expressed deep concern and strong discontent on this incident and lodged representation with the U.S. side,?± Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang said in Beijing.

The U.S. Defense Department announced Tuesday that it ?°mistakenly?± shipped non-nuclear components for an intercontinental ballistic missile to the island province of Taiwan but has since recovered them and launched an investigation.

At a Pentagon news conference, U.S. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said the items were four electrical fuses for nose-cone assemblies for ICBMs.

He also said they were delivered to Taiwan in 2006 and had been sent instead of helicopter batteries that had been ordered by Taiwan.

The fuses were manufactured for use on a Minuteman strategic nuclear missile but contain no nuclear materials, he said.

Wynne said the matter is under investigation.

Ryan Henry, the No. 2 policy official in the office of U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said President George W. Bush was notified of the mistake.

Henry said an examination of the site in Taiwan where the components had been stored after delivery indicated that they had not been "tampered with."

He said the components were "quite dated," as part of a system designed in the 1960s.

He admitted the exact sequence of events that led to the mistake and the recovery of the items was unclear.

The United States follows a one-China policy that recognizes there is only one China and that Taiwan is part of it.(SD-Agencies)