The first official delegation of the European Parliament met on Thursday with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. The delegation will be in Taiwan for 3 days. The delegation called for bold measures to be taken to strengthen relations between the EU and Taiwan.

Taiwan, which has no official diplomatic connections with any European government except the Vatican, is eager to deepen ties with European Union countries.

Raphael Glucksmann, a French member of the European Parliament, told Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen in a meeting broadcasted on Facebook, "We came here with a very simple, very clear message: You are not alone. Europe is standing with you," 

Glucksmann, the head of the delegation, added that "Our visit should be considered as an important first step," adding that "we need a very concrete agenda of high-level meetings and high-level concrete steps together to build a much stronger EU-Taiwan partnership."

In the Presidential Office, Tsai told the delegation that Taiwan hopes to "Establish a democratic alliance against disinformation."

China: a visit of the MEPs to Taiwan undermines Chinese- European relations

The Chinese mission in Brussels had previously warned that a visit by the EU's parliamentarians to Taiwan would harm China's interests and undermine Chinese- European relations.

Furthermore, according to a Wall Street Journal report, the US has been training Taiwanese military forces.

Meanwhile, China's President Xi Jinping pledged recently that a complete "peaceful reunification" with Taiwan "will be and can be realized."