At the exhibition's opening ceremony (Photo: baobacgiang.com.vn)Bac Giang (VNA) –Locals people in the northern province of Bac Giang have got an in-depth insight into thenational sovereignty over seas and islands as well as the tradition of ethnicminority groups across Vietnam through photos and documents featuring Vietnam’sHoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes and ethnic groups ofVietnam.
The exhibition, heldrecently at the provincial museum, also highlighted the contributions of ethnicgroups and religions to the national construction and defence.
On show are 80 images and42 exhibits themed “Hoang Sa, Truong Sa belong to Vietnam: historical and legalevidence” presented by the Ministry of Information and Communications, togetherwith 180 photos featuring ethnic and religious groups that the Ministry ofInformation and Communications presented to the provincial museum in 2020, andmementos of Bac Giang’s soldiers and civilians during wartime.
They affirm Vietnam’ssovereignty over the two archipelagos and highlight history and culturalidentity of ethnic groups and Bac Giang province in particular, as well ascontributions of the groups and religions in national construction andprotection.
Deputy Director of theprovincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Sy Cam said theevent is hoped to enhance patriotism among youths.
Nguyen Phuong Anh, a studentfrom Ngo Sy Lien Secondary School in Bac Giang city said that this is the firsttime she has joined an exhibition showcasing images and items featuring HoangSa and Truong Sa archipelagos as well as ethnic groups in Vietnam. Theexhibition gave her better understanding on the national sovereignty over seasand islands as well as the traditional practices of Vietnamese ethnic groups.
Many historical documentsas well as ancient Vietnamese and foreign maps have proved that Vietnam was thefirst country to have established sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoswhen they were unclaimed territories.
Under the reign of King Gia Long (1802-1820) Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa archipelagowas further strengthened.
At the exhibition (Photo: VNA)In 1805, the King ordereda land survey from the south to the north of the country and requested themaking of administrative documents on land areas, which was completed in 1836.
The King alsore-established the Hoang Sa flotilla and its affiliated unit, the Bac Haiflotilla, with the aim of managing, protecting, and exploiting Hoang Sa andTruong Sa.
The activities of theHoang Sa flotilla are recorded in the two main national history books ofVietnam under the Nguyen Dynasty: Dai Nam Thuc Luc tien bien, published in1844, and Dai Nam Thuc Luc chinh bien, in 1848.
Other historical evidenceon the management and exploitation of the two archipelagos is systematicallyrecorded in detail in many other ancient Vietnamese bibliographies, andespecially in official documents from dynasties stored at the National ArchivesCenter No 1.
Recently-collectedevidence of the establishment and enforcement of State sovereignty over theHoang Sa archipelago is the birth certificate of Mai Kim Quy that states thatQuy was born at 3pm on December 7, 1939, on Hoang Sa Island (Pattle Island), inthe Hoang Sa archipelago. The certificate was signed and sealed by arepresentative of the French administrative unit based on Hoang Sa on June 28,1940.
Historical evidence ofVietnam’s long-standing sovereignty over the two archipelagos is also recordedin many documents from foreign authors.
The above-mentionedevidence shows that Vietnam was the first country to have established andexercised sovereignty over the two archipelagos in a peaceful, open, andcontinuous manner and since at least the 17th century. This is also inaccordance with international law and is clearly and widely recognised by theinternational community./.
