Beijing on Thursday urged World Cup organisers in Qatar to respect the "one-China" principle, after a reference to China for visitors from Taiwan applying for an identification card to the event was removed.

All World Cup ticketholders must apply for the Hayya card used to identify fans, which also serves as their Qatar visa, but Taiwan authorities had expressed concern after discovering the online application system made no mention of the island.

It was subsequently listed as, "Taiwan, Province of China". However, late on Wednesday the system began listing the island simply as "Taiwan".

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, in a regular briefing in Beijing, reiterated that "Taiwan is part of China".

"We believe that the relevant parties will respect the one-China principle and resolve this matter in accordance with the consistent methods for international sporting competitions," he said.

Taiwan competes at international sporting competitions like the Olympics as "Chinese Taipei".

Qatar is expecting more than one million fans to visit during the World Cup, which runs from November 21 to December 18. (Reuters/AFP)