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WASHINGTON—President Bush, addressing an embarrassing flap that has strained U.S.-China relations, told Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday that the shipment of nuclear missile fuses to Taiwan was a mistake. The president’s national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said the matter came up when Bush called Hu.

The U.S. military’s mistaken delivery to Taiwan of electrical fuses for an intercontinental ballistic missile has raised concerns over U.S.-China ties. It has also triggered a broad investigation into the security of Pentagon weapons.

China on Wednesday strongly protested the mistaken delivery.

In a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry’s Web site, spokesman Qin Gang said China sent a protest to Washington expressing “strong displeasure.”