Sportswear brand Li-Ning in crisis management after posting map of China without Tibet to Instagram

A social media gaffe has overshadowed American basketball star Dwyane Wade's Chinese tour after sponsor Li-Ning posted a map of China showing his planned route which did not include Tibet.

The map, which was published on the tour's website and its official Instagram account, was spotted by a Weibo user surnamed Gao over the weekend.

Gao wrote a blog post highlighting the gaffe which quickly surged to the top of the most discussed list on the microblogging service. But the article was removed three hours later, he told the South China Morning Post.

Li-Ning apologised on its official Weibo account on Sunday, blaming US advertising agency Que-In for the mistake. That post was shared almost 1,500 times, with more than a thousand comments, many highly critical of the company and its apology.

As the backlash continued, the founder and namesake of the company, three-time Olympic gold medalist Li Ning, also apologised on his own Weibo account.