Political status of Taiwan
Today, the ROC (Taiwan) is a fully democratic society, with its own economy, currency, military, and elected officials. The Chinese mainland is ruled by the communist PRC government. 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. 14 countries have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Those who don't usually have un-official de facto embassies and do business with Taiwan mostly as normal, aside from recognizing it as a country.