A Review of the Cross-Strait Symposium on Legal Status of the Diaoyu Islands

From 13 to 14 October 2018, in Xiamen, the Cross-Strait Symposium on Legal Status of the Diaoyu Islands was held by Xiamen University South China Sea Institute and Center for Oceans Law and the China Seas, in collaboration with Shanghai Institute for International Strategic Studies, Mingyue Academy of Classical Learning, and World Chinese Alliance for Defending Diaoyu Islands. More than 60 experts and scholars from Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong attended the Symposium. The themes and issues presented at the Symposium mainly include: (a) the jurisprudential fallacy underlying the determination of the legal status of some features involved in the South China Sea Arbitration; (b) evidence supporting China's claim of sovereignty over the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands (hereinafter called ＂the Diaoyu Islands＂ collectively); (c) the legal status of Diaoyu Islands and maritime delimitation in the East China Sea; and (d) the possible solutions to the Diaoyu Islands dispute. By debating all the aforesaid issues, the Symposium laid the foundation for a comprehensive understanding of the history, geography, and legal status of the Diaoyu Islands.