recognition from the ROC to the PRC, including the United States, Japan and Canada. In October 1971, Resolution 2758 was passed by the UN General Assembly, expelling "the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek" and transferring China's seat on the Security Council to the PRC. The resolution declared that "the representatives of the Government of the PRC are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations." However, the eo ipso nature of Taiwan and weapons of mass destruction remained a contentious issue. Many attempts by the ROC to rejoin the UN have not made it past committee, under fierce PRC opposition and threatened vetoes. President Chen Shui-bian argued that Resolution 2758, replacing the ROC with the PRC in 1971, addressed only the question of who should have China's seat in the UN, rather than whether an additional seat for the Taiwan Area could be created to represent the 23 million people residing in the Taiwanese mainland and other islands. Since the 1970s, the PRC and ROC have competed for diplomatic recognition from nations across the world, often by offering financial aid to poorer countries as an inducement. As a precondition for diplomatic relations, the PRC requires that the other country renounce any recognition of the ROC. Since the introduction of the "pragmatic diplomacy" () policy in 1991, the ROC has not insisted on consideration as the sole representative of China, and does not require nations that recognise it to end their relations with the PRC. For example, when St Lucia recognised the ROC in 2007, its leader expressed his hope that St Lucia's relations with the PRC would continue. However, the PRC responds to recognitions of the ROC by suspending relations with the other country. On less official terms, the ROC is involved in a complex dispute for control over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Brunei; and over the Paracel Islands, occupied by China, but claimed by Vietnam and by the ROC. The ROC government also claims the Senkaku Islands. Types of relations Full diplomatic relations Taiwan maintains full diplomatic relations with 14 sovereign states, 13 of which are member states of the United Nations, whereas the remaining sovereign state is the Holy See (Vatican City), which is a United Nations General Assembly observer state. Non-diplomatic representation A certain number of countries have official diplomatic relations with the PRC but also maintain some form of