Taiwan was a part of China from the late 1600s. After the First Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan and Penghu were given to Japan by China. After World War II, the Japanese on Taiwan surrendered to the Chinese. This gave Taiwan back to the Chinese. After losing a civil war in 1949, the ROC government fled to the island of Taiwan. It took control of Taiwan and several nearby islands. The PRC controlled mainland China. It also said it owns the island of Taiwan (which is also known as Taiwan province) and the other islands. The ROC said that it was the rightful government of China and it included all of China, including Taiwan and Mongolia. In 1971, the ROC lost its United Nations seat as China. The seat was given to the PRC instead. This made the PRC the rightful government of China internationally. Most countries have accepted the PRC as the leaders of China. Several countries, including the United States, have been careful to not say officially which parts of the original China are part of the PRC. 23 countries have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Nearly all of the other countries still have some diplomatic relations with them. The major problems are about whether Taiwan is a still part of the PRC or should be an independent country.