In Asia, Japan was put under American occupation. In 1948, Korea was divided into North and South Korea, each claiming to be the legal representative of the Koreans, which led to the Korean War in 1950. Civil war in China continued from 1946 and resulted in the KMT retreating to Taiwan in 1949. The communists won the mainland. In the Middle East, the Arab disagreement on the United Nations plan to create Israel marked the beginning of conflicts between the Arabs and Israel.