VietNamNet Bridge - The Paracel (Hoang Sa) and the Spratly (Truong Sa) Islands are two archipelagos offshore Vietnam. The closest point of the Paracel Islands is 120 nautical miles east of the central city of Da Nang and Ré Island, a coastal island of Vietnam. Meanwhile, the closest point of the Spratly Islands is about 250 nautical miles to the east of Cam Ranh Bay, Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa province. VN condemns Chinese intrusion In the old days, with vague information about the Paracel and the Spratly Islands, navigators only knew about a large area in the middle of the sea with submerged cays, which was very dangerous for watercrafts, referred to as “Bien Dong (East Sea) by Vietnamese. Ancient Vietnamese documents indicate this area with various names, including “Bai Cat Vang” (Golden Sandbank), “Hoang Sa” (Golden Sand), “Van Ly Hoang Sa” (Ten-Thousand-Li [1] Golden Sand), “Dai Truong Sa” (Grand Long Sand), or “Van Ly Truong Sa” (Ten-Thousand-Li Long Sand). Most of the nautical … [Read more...]

The Hanoitimes - Vietnam has enough scientific, historical and legal foundation featuring its undeniable sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) islands … [Read more...]

After a 1904 China map, Vietnamese experts have found other drawings by Western experts from five centuries ago showing the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands in the East Sea as belonging to Vietnam instead of China. … [Read more...]

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The Hanoitimes - Crowds of people are rushing to the National Museum of History in Hanoi o­n learning of the existence of an ancient map dating back to the Qing Dynasty of China, showing all the geographical provinces of China and published in Shanghai in 1904, which clearly shows that the Paracel and Spratly Islands were never part of China. … [Read more...]

A fully revised regional map and gazetteer of Asia South East, Pacific South West released by Australia in 2009 refer to disputed archipelagos in the East Sea using their Vietnamese names.>> Spratlys, Paracels not on 1904 Chinese map >> Let's show 1904 Chinese map to China: expert >>China's Sansha city election in East Sea under fire>> Discoverer of official documents on Hoang Sa honoured "Quần đảo Trường Sa" (Spratly Islands) and "Quần đảo Hoàng Sa" (Paracel Islands) also are shown in Vietnam's waters, in the files released by the Committee For Geographical Names of Australia (CGNA), on behalf of the UN Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN). Dr. Hoang Ngoc Lam, vice head of Vietnam's General Department of Survey and Mapping (VNGDSM), told Tuoi Tre in an interview that his and other agencies must collect old documents like these to protect national sovereignty. A fully revised map of Asia South East, Pacific South West released by Australia in 2009 refer to Paracels and … [Read more...]

A Han-Chinese map of China published in 1904 reveals that China stretched as far south as Hainan Island, and that Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands did not belong to China. >> Let's show 1904 Chinese map to China: expert >> China's Sansha city election in East Sea under fire >> Discoverer of official documents on Hoang Sa honoured Shanghai Publishing House printed the map whose Vietnamese name is "Hoàng triều trực tỉnh địa dư toàn đồ" (Map of all Chinese provinces). After holding it for 30 years, Dr. Mai Hong, former head of the Library of the Institute for the Study of Chinese and Demotic Scripts and Cultures, has decided to release the historical evidence. Hong recently sat down with Tuoi Tre for an interview about the map: How did you get this map? I got this map when I administered a library of Chinese and Demotic Script books (now Institute for the Study of Chinese and Demotic Scripts and Cultures) in 1977. At that time, collecting maps was not our … [Read more...]

A pair of Su-27 fighter jets has embarked on regular patrols of the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago in the East Sea, a state military newspaper reported recently. Vietnam began the missions June 15, sending the Russian-made Sukhoi fighters from Phu Cat airport in central Binh Dinh Province, according to Dat Viet newspaper. It was air division 372’s first regular flight to the area. One of two other main air divisions, 370, started flight patrols to Truong Sa in 1988. Combat pilots Le Hong Son and Nguyen Hong Tuan, both 31, flew the two jets for the 1,300 kilometers, roundtrip, between Phu Cat and Truong Sa. “I feel moved,” Son said as he held a bouquet of flowers presented to him upon returning to the mainland. “I could see my comrades on the island waving flags and hands to greet me. I could see the lighthouse on it clearly.” Historic flight The two fighter jets make up half of a squad, completed by cargo plane An-26 and a command craft. Major … [Read more...]

The administration and residents of Ho Chi Minh City have put a lot of efforts to support the soldiers living on the Spratly Islands both materially and spiritually, having a profound understanding of their difficult life. Colonel Bien Xuan Khuong, who has experience of the Spratly Islands for 19 years, says today the Islands receive much more attention and support from the entire country than during the early days of its sovereignty. Earlier, living conditions on the islands were tough and lacked basic amenities but now there is better communication with the mainland and telephones made it easier to speak to family members and others anywhere in the world. He adds that the government and people in HCMC are most sympathetic towards Spratly Islands. These sentiments are endorsed in every letter written by HCMC students and Youth Union members. Regular visits by city leaders and people and the facilities offered by organizations and enterprises to improve living conditions and … [Read more...]

VietNamNet Bridge – Prime Minister Pham Van Dong’s Diplomatic Note 1958 did not state to give up Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands. Nui Le Island in the Spratly Archipelago China has recently slandered the so-called “indisputable sovereignty” over the Paracel and Spratly Islands. China’s interpretation of the Diplomatic Note dated September 14, 1958 by Prime Minister Pham Van Dong as an evidence that Vietnam recognized China’s sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands is completely one-sided, and it is the distortion of the contents and the meaning of that document, is entirely strange to Vietnam’s legal foundation as well as international law and ignores the objective fact of the historical background at that time.China’s distortion of the Diplomatic Note 1958 is an act in a series of intentional acts to create excuses and gradually regularize China’s groundless … [Read more...]