A photo of Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands of Vietnam is on display at the Hoang Sa Museum in Da Nang.

Chairman of the Hoàng Sa District Vo Ngoc Dong made an official statement on Sunday evening, saying the protest was stated at the city’s People's Council on the Chinese State Council’s decision to set up the two administrative regions under so-called Sansha City in Hainan Province from 2021.

A photo shows a port on Truong Sa Sa (Spratly) Archipelago of Viet Nam.

The statement clearly reaffirmed Viet Nam was the first and the only country to have long ago exploited, occupied and established sovereignty on the two archipelagos.

It said: “The Islands' District People’s Committee asked China to abolish the decisions and stop all illegal activities on the two islands of Viet Nam.”

Da Nang had included the Hoang Sa (Paracel) islands in the city’s Master Plan for 2030-50.

An old map indicates the frontier of Southern China is Hainan Island.

The Islands District’s Hoang Sa Museum preserves a collection of 150 maps published between 1618-1859 and 1626-1908. Of which, many show evidence that the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos belong to Viet Nam, and 102 books published in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and the Hán (Chinese script) show the frontier of Southern China is Hainan Island.

Two Postal Atlas Map of China books which were published by the Directorate General of Posts, Ministry of Transportation of the Republic of China in 1919 (consisting of 49 maps) and in 1933 (29 maps) and one Atlas of the Chinese Empire, published by the China Inland Mission in 1909 (23 maps) have been preserved by the district. None of the three books list the Paracels and Spratlys in the maps and index pages.

An old mapclearly shows Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelagos are not part of China.

The district also displays a shipwreck in the museum’s front yard. The vessel was rammed by a Chinese boat in Vietnamese waters off the Hoang Sa Archipelago in 2014.

An ancient map indicates two archipelagos of Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) belong to Viet Nam.

Currently, 12 people who lived, worked and fought for the archipelago from 1959-1974 are still alive in the city.

The Hoang Sa Islands were illegally seized by Chinese forces on January 19, 1974.

In 2017, American-Vietnamese collector, Tran Thang, donated to Hoàng Sa Island District the Pattie De La Conchinchine, an 1827 map printed in the six-volume World Atlas by late Belgian cartographer Phillippe Vandermaelen.

Museum of Hoang Sa in Da Nang City preserves many old documents and maps of Viet Nam's sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelagos.

The Pattie De La Conchinchine map indicated the central region was part of Annam (a French protectorate encompassing the central region of Viet Nam) and Hoang Sa (Paracels) was under the sovereignty of Viet Nam from at least the 19th century onwards.

Many records of the royal Nguyen Dynasty (1802-45); six written in Han (Chinese script) and 14 documents from the French colonial period, state that Hoàng Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) belong to Viet Nam. — VNS

China's action condemned as "provocative", "illegal"

Analyst Carl Thayer Carl Thayer , an Emeritus Professor at the University of New South Wales has called latest China's action in the East Sea "provocative," "illegal" and has no basis under international law.

Nothing unusual about VN's submission of diplomatic notes to UN protesting China's illegal claims: spokesperson

Vietnam’s submissions of diplomatic notes protesting China’s illegal claims over East Sea is a normal action to express the country’s standpoint and protect its legitimate rights and interests.