VietNamNet Bridge – An exhibition on Truong Sa Island offers conclusive proof that the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes belong to Viet Nam.


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Set in stone: The sovereignty marker built by the government of the Republic of Viet Nam on Nam Yet Island in 1956. 

 

 

During our voyage to Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands, at the Nam Yet "Coconut Island" (also known as Nam Yet Village of Truong Sa District, Khanh Hoa Province), we visited its three-storey Culture Centre, with a floor area of 1,800sq.m, that was built on the lines of a traditional Vietnamese house.

The highlight of the centre is the first floor hall, where there is a small museum with a collection of artifacts, photos and documents that affirm divine and inviolable sovereignty of Viet Nam to the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands.

At this miniature museum, we saw the models of lightweight sailing boats used by Vietnamese on the East Sea since the time of Nguyen Lords as well as the modern ships, submarines and missile warships of the Viet Nam Navy.

Besides, there is a collection of antique maps and a collection of text documents about the two archipelagos, arranged in order from the feudal time to the anti-French and anti-American wars, the Republic of Viet Nam regime, and later.

From the olden times the two groups of islands have been under the management of the Vietnamese people.

From the 17th century to the 18th century, the two archipelagos were named "Bai Cat Vang" (Yellow Sands), or "Hoang Sa", and "Dai Truong Sa" (Great Long Sands) or "Van Ly Truong Sa" (Long Sands of Thousands of Miles).

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Paper trail: The birth certificate of Mai Kim Quy who was born in Hoang Sa Island.

 

 

The maps drawn by Western countries combined Paracels and Spratlys as one and named "Pracel", "Parcel" or "Paracels". Official documents of the States of Viet Nam have records of the operation of the Hoang Sa and Bac Hai naval teams that managed and patrolled over the two archipelagos since the beginning of Nguyen Lords' reign.

The museum keeps text documents signed by the Kings, the Kings' edicts and the reports of the ministries and other administrative agencies during the feudal time regarding the implementation of Viet Nam's sovereignty over the islands, including the visits, measurements, drawing maps, building territory markers and planting trees on the islands.

Before 1975, the government of the Republic of Viet Nam [the Sai Gon administration] had many documents and operations to affirm Viet Nam's sovereignty for the two archipelagos.

After the country was unified in 1975, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam has continued to exercise its sovereignty over the two archipelagos.

The exhibition shows authentic and intuitive evidence that encourages officials, soldiers and people living on the islands to firmly defend the sacred sovereignty of the country. It also helps people from the mainland and overseas Vietnamese when they visit the islands to better understand about Viet Nam's sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa.

 
 

Birth certificate of a Hoang Sa resident

Especially, at this museum we felt excited to see a birth certificate of a Vietnamese citizen who was born in the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands in 1939.

The certificate was issued by the mission of the Republic of France at Hoang Sa (Pattle) Island on August 28, 1940.

As that time was too long ago, the birth certificate looks stained but the main information about the Vietnamese citizen confirmed by local authorities is still intact.

Information on birth certificates as follows:

Baby name: Mai Kim Quy;

Gender: Female;

Place of birth: the Pattle (Hoang Sa) Island of the Hoang Sa Archipelago;

The daughter of Mai Xuan Tap (the father, meteorological staff) and Nguyen Thi Thang (the mother, housewife).

The Name of the First Witness: Nguyen Tang Chuan (Indochina doctor); the Second Witness: Do Duc Mai (Radio Station chief).

The authorities' representative who signed this birth certificate is Chauvet (representative of the mission at the Hoang Sa (Pattle) Island of the Hoang Sa Archipelago that belongs to the country of An Nam) [An Nam was the former name of Viet Nam].

This birth certificate is just a small and simple judicial procedure, but it demonstrates that administrative management at that time in Hoang Sa was very strict.

Via these documents, we see more clearly the sovereignty of Viet Nam that has been fully and completely executed in Hoang Sa.

Thus, besides the collection of maps and historical documents from the previous dynasties and administrations, this lively material gives viewers an overall, deep and full look about historical and legal evidence that claim Viet Nam's sovereignty over the two archipelagos.

 

Source: VNS