Taiwan picked up a small but real diplomatic win at the Vatican, where Pope Leo XIV told Academia Sinica head Chen Chien-jen he will keep praying for the island.

• Chen met the Pope during the Pontifical Academy of Sciences plenary, which drew 140 top scientists from around the world.
• Taiwan sees Leo XIV as friendly: he has prayed for the island and sent donations after natural disasters since taking office.
• The Vatican is one of Taiwan's few remaining formal diplomatic partners in Europe, so warm words from the Pope carry weight against Beijing's pressure.
• The meeting's theme was AI and fast-moving technology, including the risk that governments use it to watch and control people, and that AI and robots become weapons of war.
• Chen argued science crosses borders more easily than politics or trade, and pushed for more cross-country research teamwork.

Outlook: Expect Taiwan to keep leaning on scientific and religious channels like this one to hold onto international visibility where formal diplomacy is blocked.