Provinces of China
The Republic of China, established in 1912, set up four more provinces in Inner Mongolia and two provinces in historic Tibet, bringing the total to 28. In 1931, Ma Zhongying established Hexi in the northern parts of Gansu but the ROC never acknowledged the province. However, China lost four provinces with the establishment of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in Manchuria. After the defeat of Japan in World War II in 1945, China re-incorporated Manchuria as 10 provinces, and assumed control of Taiwan as a province. As a result, the Republic of China in 1946 had 35 provinces. Although the Republic of China now only controls one province (Taiwan), and some islands of a second province (Fujian), it continues to formally claim all 35 provinces (including those that no longer form part of the area of the People's Republic of China).
Sixteen Prefectures
The historian Frederick W. Mote writes that there were actually 19 prefectures but does not specify them. Chinese historians do not consider Yíngzhou (营州; modern Qian'an, Hebei) and Pingzhou (平州; modern Lulong, Hebei) to be part of the Sixteen Prefectures because they had already been occupied by the Khitans during the Later Tang, prior to Shi Jingtang’s cession. Yizhou (易州; modern Yi County, Hebei), which fell to the Khitans after the cession, is also excluded from the count of 16. The Liao created two new prefectures, Jingzhou (景州, modern Zunhua, Hebei) from Jizhou and Luanzhou (滦州; Luan County, Hebei) from Pingzhou, which have not been included in the original sixteen.