Vietnam’s sovereignty over its seas and islands has been confirmed for thousands of years now. Historian and member of the National Assembly of Dong Nai Province Duong Trung Quoc stressed that under the Le Dynasty in the reign of King Le Thanh Tong, maps on national sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelagos had been drawn and confirmed.
Vietnam’s sovereignty over its seas and islands has been confirmed for thousands of years now.
 |
| Various maps confirming that Hoang Sa and Truong Sa Archipelagos belongs to Vietnam showcased in an exhibition recently hosted by Dong Nai Province |
Historian and member of the National Assembly of Dong Nai Province Duong Trung Quoc stressed that under the Le Dynasty in the reign of King Le Thanh Tong, maps on national sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelagos had been drawn and confirmed. The national sovereignty over these archipelagos had been reconfirmed and exercised under the Nguyen Dynasty. In 1938, King Bao Dai continued executing state power to establish sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa Archipelagos.
Under the Nguyen Dynasty, King Minh Mang ordered the drawing of a map which clearly demonstrated the triangle range of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa running along the Central coastline, which was named “Ten thousand li of Truong Sa”.
The above specific evidence is enough to demonstrate the vision of Vietnamese ancestors.
Historian Duong Trung Quoc added that when the French took over Dai Nam territory, they kept exercising Vietnam’s sovereignty over the region with the construction of lighthouses, radio stations and registration of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa Archipelagos as parts of their Indochinese colony, including Vietnam.
With obvious and time-honoured evidence, Quoc said that, Vietnamese people are inheriting consistent values of history to uphold and defend the sacred sovereignty over the sea and islands of the fatherland.
Lately, Dong Nai Province hosted an exhibition, themed “Dong Nai towards Seas and Islands”, introducing 4 old maps and 14 others collected by domestic and international collectors, with a confirmation of Vietnam’s sovereignty over its two archipelagos of Truong Sa and Hoang Sa.
Notably, the map “Hoang trieu truc tinh dia tu toan do” (Atlas of all Chinese provinces), drawn under Qing Dynasty and published in 1904, clearly affirms that the southernmost point of China is Hainan Island and does not include Hoang Sa and Truong Sa Archipelagos.
Meanwhile, the French map “Cac dai khi tuong Dong Duong” (Indochinese Weather Stations), drawn in 1940, illustrates that the weather stations in Pattle or Hoang Sa Archipelago and in Itu Aba or Truong Sa Archipelago are the most important of Indochina. It means that Hoang Sa and Truong Sa Archipelagos are under Vietnam’s sovereignty.
Moreover, the map, titled “An Nam dai quoc hoa do” (The Map of the Great Country of An Nam), made by Jean-Louis Taberd of France in 1838, specifically records that “Parcel Seu Cat Vang” which means Hoang Sa Archipelago belongs to Vietnam territory, while the map “Dai Nam thong nhat toan do” (The Complete Map of Unified Dai Nam) identifies Hoang Sa and ten thousand li of Truong Sa as within Vietnam’s territory.
(Source: QDND)
