An anchor on a state-run television network has accidentally declared the Philippines a part of China, in an embarrassing gaffe as tensions between the two nations run high.

He Jia, anchor for China Central Television‘s (CCTV) nationally televised news broadcast, made the claim during a late Monday broadcast that has been repeatedly replayed on the internet.

The anchor apparently meant to say that the Huangyan islands – known in the Philippines as the Scarborough Shoal, and claimed by both nations – is China’s territory.

“We all know that the Philippines is China’s inherent territory and the Philippines belongs to Chinese sovereignty, this is an indisputable fact,” she said in the broadcast, which has since vanished from the CCTV website but is available elsewhere online.

Viewers joked in online postings that the presenter’s nationalistic fervour led to her mistake.

“This anchor woman is great, a good patriot, she…