BEIJING (AP) — The hotel chain Marriott International has apologized to China's government after referring to Tibet and self-ruled Taiwan as countries in a customer survey.

A company statement on Thursday said Marriott "respects China's sovereignty" and promised not to support separatist movements. The survey sent to customers asked in which country they lived and gave options including Tibet and Taiwan.

The communist Beijing government is intensely sensitive about the status of Taiwan, the self-ruled island the mainland claims as part of its territory, and of Tibet. It regularly lashes out at publishers of books, maps or software who inadvertently depict Taiwan as an independent country.

Chinese state media reported that police questioned Marriott managers in an investigation into possible violation of the security law.