Hong Kong: Hong Kong's leading English-language newspaper has apologised for misidentifying Chinese president Hu Jintao as a jailed Chinese dissident in a front-page photo caption.

On Tuesday, the South China Morning Post's main front-page photo showed Hu arriving in the US for President Barack Obama's nuclear security summit.

The English caption identified Hu correctly, but the Post, which also publishes the Chinese characters for Chinese names, printed the characters for Chinese dissident Hu Jia instead.

Hu Jia, who has championed Aids victims, has been in the news recently after Chinese authorities rejected him for medical parole after a possible diagnosis for liver cancer.

The activist was jailed for sedition after being accused of plotting to disturb the Olympic Games. On Wednesday, the Post ran a front-page apology.