Visitors at the exhibition in Ha Giang province (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Maps and documentaries affirming Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes are on display in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang and the north-central province of Thanh Hoa during exhibitions that opened on July 26.
At the Ha Giang provincial library, nearly 100 maps collected in and outside the country, together with numerous documents and items on show at the event, provide historic evidence and a legal basis proving Vietnam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagoes.
Notably, many documents are written in Han-Nom (Chinese-transcribed Vietnamese), Vietnamese and French, which were published by Vietnam’s feudal courts, and the French administration in Indochina from the 17th and early 18th century.
Administrative documents issued by the Republic of Vietnam in the south, during the 1954-1975 period and displayed at the event, also affirm the continuous management by Vietnam over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa.
The exhibition includes a collection of 65 maps proving Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, together with a collection of six “Atlas Universel” editions compiled by Belgian cartographer Philippe Vandermaelen in 1827.
A further four map collections and 30 other maps released by Chinese administrations through various historical periods also show that China has never practiced any management activities over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa.
The event, jointly held by the Ministry of Information and Communications and the provincial People’s Committee, is the 64 th of its kind organised since earlier this year, in 44 localities, 10 islands and 10 armed force units. It aims to raise public awareness, especially among the youth, of safeguarding sovereignty over the nation’s seas and islands.
The exhibition will run until July 30.
Meanwhile at the Thanh Hoa provincial Exhibition-Fair and Advertisement Centre, nearly 3,000 materials and documents feature the Party’s guidelines, and the State’s policies and law relating to the national strategy to defend the country in the new circumstances and assert the country’s indisputable sovereignty over its islands and seas.
The exhibition will run through to July 31.-VNA
