Pingtan, an island off the coast of Fujian province and the mainland's closest point to the island of Taiwan, is emerging as a key hub for cross-Straits academic and cultural exchange. During the 17th Straits Forum, the Austronesian Cultural Academic Forum gathered experts from both sides of the Taiwan Straitsto explore the origins and development of the Austronesian language family, advancing scholarly collaboration in this specialized field.

At the academic symposium held on June 18, Tong Qingyan, director of the Digital Communication Center for Cultural Relics at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, delivered a keynote speech titled "A Cultural Perspective on Austronesian Maritime Civilizations around the Pacific Rim." She emphasized how Austronesian societies, through close interaction with nature, transformed natural patterns into a form of visual memory—an enduring symbolic language that preserved and transmitted their cultural identity. "This visual language helped root the characteristics of Austronesian communities and allowed maritime traditions to persist into modern civilization," she noted.

Ge Wei, associate professor at the College of History and Cultural Heritage at Xiamen University, presented recent findings on cereal remains discovered at shell mound sites along the Fujian coast. Drawing from direct radiocarbon dating, he observed a curious discrepancy—some plant remains were dated to a later period than the cultural layers in which they were found. "This highlights the urgent need for taphonomic research at these sites to better situate Austronesian cultural development in time and space," he explained.

Ge also pointed out the value of cross-disciplinary collaboration, citing a recent example where scholars used impressions on pottery to trace ancient plant use and agricultural exchange. "Approaches like these offer more direct evidence of early human subsistence strategies. We aim to expand cooperation across disciplines to build a fuller picture of ancient economic life,"he said.