TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan and Japan will resume talks about fisheries in Tokyo later this month following a three-year hiatus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday (Jan. 10).

Officials said the COVID-19 pandemic had prevented in-person meetings, while video conferencing would not have been effective, the Liberty Times reported. The two sides had agreed to conduct a new meeting later in January, but the topics would only be released to the public afterward, according to MOFA.

A fisheries agreement signed in 2013 stipulated a joint fisheries committee would meet each year, but the pandemic caused the suspension of discussions in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Taiwan and Japan did conduct an Economic Partnership Committee (EPC) meeting by video conference on Dec. 26 to discuss the development of bilateral trade and investment, MOFA said. Issues included Chinese import bans on agricultural and fishing products from Taiwan as well as Japan’s unchanged support for Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Looking ahead, MOFA said it expected trips by Japanese delegations to continue, with two groups of Diet members scheduled to visit Taiwan this month, to be followed by delegations of local political leaders.