TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said any attempt to change Taiwan’s status quo through force or coercion cannot bring true peace, in a letter to Pope Leo XIV released on Friday, per Reuters.

Writing in response to the pope’s Jan. 1 World Day of Peace message, Lai said democracy, peace and prosperity are “Taiwan’s national path and also Taiwan’s link with the world.”  

The president said Taiwan faces military coercion and political intimidation from “authoritarian states in the region,” without naming China. Despite that pressure, he said Taiwan has sought to safeguard peace in the Taiwan Strait.

“I firmly believe that any attempt to change Taiwan’s status quo through force or coercion cannot bring true peace,” Lai wrote.

China conducts daily military maneuvers around Taiwan, which Taipei describes as a sustained campaign of pressure and harassment. Beijing staged its latest large-scale military drills, Justice Mission 2025, around the country in late December.

In the letter, Lai also criticised what he called efforts to distort World War II documents and the 1971 UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, which saw Taiwan lose its seat to China. He said such interpretations are used to downgrade Taiwan’s sovereign status.

In 1951, China severed diplomatic ties with the Vatican. The Holy See is the only European country that maintains formal ties with Taiwan.