On 13 August 2018, the opening ceremony of the 6th South China Sea-themed Summer Camp was held in Haikou, Hainan, China. Mr. Xi Jinsong, Vice President of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies (NISCSS), Mr. Wang Kexi, Deputy Director-General of Taiwan Affairs Office of Hainan Province, and Professor Shen Guchao, Vice Director of the Collaborative Innovation Center of South China Sea Studies of Nanjing University attended the opening ceremony, and delivered remarks on behalf of the organizers and speakers.  

Initiated in August 2012, the South China Sea-themed Summer Camp has become an institutionalized mechanism. It is designed to deepen academic exchanges among college students and junior scholars across the Taiwan Straits on South China Sea issues, and to inspire maritime research. So far, it has over 140 alumni not only from both sides of the Straits, but also from Hong Kong, Macau and overseas.

The South China Sea-themed Summer Camp 2018 is co-organized by the NISCSS, Taiwan Center for Security Studies of Taiwan Chengchi University and China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies of Wuhan University.

20 post-graduate students and junior scholars from 13 universities and research institutes have been enrolled in this year’s program, including NISCSS, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Nanjing University, Wuhan University, Shandong University, Hainan University, Zhejiang University, Chinese Academy of Science, Chinese Academy of Social Science, Taiwan Chengchi University, Taiwan Sun Yat-Sen University, and Taiwan Chung Cheng University. The one-week program covers a range of activities featuring seminars, field studies and a group report. Seminar speakers include prominent scholars specializing in different academic fields such as South China Sea history and geography, law, security, international law, international relations and marine science, as well as experts from ocean affairs-related agencies.