Not only was Taiwan's new president, Ma Ying-jeou, a major activist in the movement at the time, he also wrote his Harvard doctoral dissertation, "Disputes over oily waters: a case study of continental shelf problems and foreign oil investments in the East China Sea and Taiwan Strait," on the subject.
新總統馬英九當年不僅是保釣大將，更以相關的「怒海油爭：東海海床劃界及外人投資之法律問題」為論文主題，獲得哈佛法學博士學位。