A two-day photo exhibition capturing China’s reclamation activities in the East Sea is running at Gwangju city’s Chosun University in the Republic of Korea (RoK).
Eighty photos zoomed in shoals and islets present on Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagos before, during, and after China’s reclamation, reflecting the activity’s impacts on surrounding maritime ecology.
On display are also old maps locating the two archipelagos in the East Sea.
Delivering an opening speech on September 11, Dr Ahn Kyong Hwan, Chairman of the RoK’s Association of Vietnamese Studies, said the exhibition sends out a call for all the parties involved in territorial disputes to halt unilateral, tense activities that altered the status quo in the East Sea and work together to safeguard peace, stability and development as well as ecological diversity in the region.
Talking with Seoul-based Vietnam News Agency correspondents, he affirmed that Hoang Sa and Truong Sa have been part of Vietnam’s territory since the 17 th century, stressing his position as a lecturer of Vietnamese language, history and culture.
Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Pham Huu Chi lauded the meaningful event, saying he believes it will help locals better understand Vietnam’s history and Vietnamese people’s struggle to protect the national sovereignty in the East Sea.-VNA