A meeting of fisheries-related entities will be held in Tokyo this month, the foreign ministry said today.

Diagram of a fishing boat.

(file photo)

[Reporter Lu Yixuan/Taipei Report] The "Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Committee" has been suspended for several years due to the epidemic. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today that the two sides have lifted the seal and resumed personnel exchanges. This month, a fishery-related entity meeting will be held in Tokyo.

The two sides are currently negotiating. Based on a tacit understanding, the content of the talks will be explained to the public after the meeting.

In addition, Taiwan and Japan held the "4th Taiwan-Japan Economic Partnership Committee (EPC)" at the end of last year to discuss comprehensive trade and investment development issues.

Fan Zhenguo, deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan Japan Association, attended the regular meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today.

The media asked about the status of the "4th Taiwan-Japan Economic Partnership Committee (EPC)" talks?

Fan Zhenguo explained that the two sides held the "4th Taiwan-Japan Economic Partnership Committee (Economic Partnership Committee)" meeting on December 26 last year under the framework of the two sessions of the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association and the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association.

The meeting lasted about half a day and more than 2 hours of talks, the content of which was mainly on comprehensive trade and investment development issues.

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The EPC meeting was led by Zhou Xueyou, Secretary-General of Taiwan-Japan Association, and Kobayashi Kenichi, Minister of Trade and Economics of Japan-Taiwan Association for Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Fan Zhenguo pointed out that, specifically, the content of the talks included Taiwan and Japan's views on the development of the global economic situation, discussions on strengthening bilateral economic and trade cooperation between Taiwan and Japan, and how to strengthen cooperation under the WTO framework.

Issues that everyone is concerned about, such as China's ban on the export of Taiwanese products and my country's seeking to join the CPTPP, have also been discussed by both sides.

In conclusion, Japan's position on welcoming China to join the CPTPP has not changed, and the meeting went smoothly.

In addition, the "Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Commission" has been suspended for 3 years due to the epidemic, and continues to follow the previous regulations.

The media asked about the resumption plan?

Fan Zhenguo replied that the fishery issue is also an issue of concern to both Taiwan and Japan, and due to the impact of the epidemic, physical meetings cannot be held.

Due to different natures, if the fishery talks are not effective through video conferences, they still have to be held face-to-face.

After the two sides successively lifted the blockade last year, we immediately discussed with the Japanese side the restart of the dialogue meeting on fishery and marine cooperation.

Negotiations are still ongoing, and it can be reported that a physical meeting will be held in Tokyo within this month.

Based on the tacit agreement between the two parties, the announcement will only be made after the meeting.

Fan Zhenguo also recalled that in the past year, many heavyweight Japanese politicians visited Taiwan, which was of great significance for enhancing substantive relations.

Looking forward to this year, Fan Zhenguo predicted that two Japanese congressional delegations will visit Taiwan in January. In addition to parliamentarians, the visits to Taiwan by county and city mayors from all over Japan are also active. I believe that in the post-epidemic era, the interaction between Taiwan and Japan will quickly return to the pre-epidemic prosperity. scene.

Taiwan and Japan signed the "Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement" in April 2013, setting aside a large-scale "Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement" for the two sides' overlapping exclusive economic zones (that is, the waters south of 27 degrees north latitude and between Japan's Yaeyama Islands and the north of the Miyako Islands). Agreement applicable sea area".

According to the agreement, Taiwan and Japan established the Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Committee, which hosts meetings in turn every year to discuss the details of fishery operations in an institutionalized manner.

However, due to the impact of the epidemic, it has been closed since 2020, and the rules of the "8th Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Committee" in 2019 will be followed.