On the morning of 3 August 2016, the opening ceremony of the 5th South China Sea-themed Summer Camp was held in Haikou, Hainan Province.

NISCSS President Wu Shicun, Director Liu Geng of Taiwan Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Hainan Province, and research fellow Yann-Huei Song of Academia Sinica attended the ceremony and made remarks.

As Wu pointed out in his speech, he expected the participants to deepen their understanding of South China Sea issues and strengthen the determination to maintain Chinese people’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea. He also appealed to human kind to attach equal importance to marine environment protection and marine resource utilization. He also expected the participants to take this opportunity to bolster mutual understanding and foster friendship.

Song looked back on the development course of the summer camp and looked into its future. He encouraged the participants to devote themselves to South China Sea studies and contribute to peace, cooperation and friendship of the South China Sea.  

Liu briefed the participants about the exchanges and cooperation between Hainan Province and Taiwan, and wished the participants a fruitful stay in the summer camp.

The South China Sea-themed Summer Camp is designed to help college students across the Strait to get a better understanding of South China Sea issues, inspire talents in maritime research, and deepen exchanges among the students across the Strait. Since it was launched in 2012 in Haikou, the summer camp has been held alternately in Taiwan and Chinese mainland. More than 120 college students from Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and overseas have attended the summer camp.

This summer camp is co-organized by the NISCSS and Zhejiang University and brings together over 20 college students from over ten universities, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Xiamen University, Zhejiang University, Nanjing University, Jinan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, East China University of Political Science and Law, China University of Geosciences, Dalian Maritime University, Wuhan University, Hainan University, the University of Macau, Taiwan Chengchi University, Taiwan Soochow University and Taiwan Nanhua University.

The one-week summer camp is scheduled to be held in Haikou, Hainan Province and Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province. The lecturers include scholars in history, geography, law, security, international relations and marine science as well as maritime law enforcement officials. The participants will visit Hainan Maritime Safety Administration, Tanmen fishing port, and Zhejiang Zhoushan Archipelago New Area Marine Industry Cluster Area and other places.