Mentioning Diao-yu-tai evokes an immediate patriotic response in Taiwan due to the territorial dispute between China and Japan, sparked by a 1968 oil field survey in the East China Sea.

古人為釣魚台取了有趣又悠閒的名字。但如今,島嶼象徵的意義已不再那麼單純,更不能用「證明是誰擁有的」就可以解決。本片希望能跳脫愛國思想的盲點,從人的觀點出發,去探求屬於這座小島的個人、自然與國家間的衝突和出口。