—— Liu Cigui, Director of the State Oceanic Administration
Today, China's interests have spread all over the world. In order to defend overseas interests and sea lanes, China must develop maritime forces, including naval construction. But in any case, the strategic nature of our national defense will not change, and we will stick to the road of peaceful development.
-Judge Gao Zhiguo of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
Historically, I think the ocean should be divided into "public rights" and "private rights". The so-called "public power" is a sovereignty concept. The so-called concept of sovereignty means that a coastal country must have territory, territorial sea and airspace, which is the scope of sovereignty of a country. It was not until modern times that we gradually had such a clear concept.
-Ping Jiang, tenured professor at China University of Political Science and Law.
Throughout the history of China, "going to sea" was mostly forced out. First, internal needs, lack of land resources, to develop resources in the ocean; Second, external challenges, the ocean is not safe, you can go to the ocean to defend your country. Therefore, only by changing passivity into initiative, establishing an open and inclusive global vision and actively embracing the ocean can the Chinese nation truly rise in the world.
—— Liu Guojia, Research Fellow, Institute of Marine Development Strategy, Oceanic Administration
No matter whether our country conducts Antarctic scientific research or Arctic scientific research, it indicates that our vision has surpassed the territorial sea and exclusive economic zone, and we have looked at ocean issues from a global perspective.
—— Qu Tanzhou, Director of the Polar Investigation Office of the State Oceanic Administration
At the highest point of the ice sheet, we are the only country to participate in the survey; We are the only developing country among the countries that have established stations in the Antarctic inland. This is enough to make us proud. Just like playing Go, it doesn't matter how many pieces you have.
—— Qu Tanzhou, Director of the Polar Investigation Office of the State Oceanic Administration
In the eyes of ordinary people in our society, including students and even college students, China's territorial area often refers to 9.6 million square kilometers of land, while ignoring that we still have 3 million square kilometers of sea areas under our jurisdiction.
—— Shi Qingfeng, President of Ocean Publishing House