Land submerged for nearly 60 years resurfaces, court rules it belongs to heirs, not the state

A Taipei court has ordered the state to relinquish its claim on a plot of land that resurfaced after nearly six decades underwater. The land, originally privately owned by the Li family during the Japanese colonial era, was removed from registration in 1932 when it became part of a river.

Following the construction of flood control dikes on Shezi Island, the land gradually reappeared. It was re-cataloged in 2002 and subsequently registered as state property in 2007. The descendants of the original owner, Li Yu-shui, who died in 1946, sued to reclaim their ancestral property.

They argued that ownership should automatically revert to Li Yu-shui upon the land's resurfacing, with the property to be jointly inherited by all his heirs. The National Property Administration (NPA) contested this, claiming one heir, Li Chih, had forfeited inheritance rights by "separating from the family" during the Japanese era. The NPA also argued the land was still considered a waterway and that ownership had been acquired through adverse possession due to its use as a flood barrier since 1990.

The court, however, found insufficient evidence of Li Chih's separation from the family, noting he and other male heirs jointly inherited other properties. It ruled that the land's physical reappearance, with a calculable area and scope, qualified as restoration. Under land law, ownership automatically reverts to the original owner when submerged land resurfaces, regardless of administrative approval or its designation as a river zone. The court also stated that claims for the return of private land registered as state property from the Japanese colonial era are not subject to statutes of limitations.

This ruling overturned a previous reversal by a higher court and affirmed a lower court's decision in favor of the Li family's heirs. The NPA's appeal was dismissed.