Itwas important to note that the state’s policies received the activesupport of citizens which had been reflected through cultural documentsand folk verses being handed down from generation to generation ofislanders. Cultural documents showing people’s noble sacrifices for thesacred national sovereignty over sea and islands touched scientists’hearts and were seen as golden evidence determining that Hoang Sa andTruong Sa archipelagoes have been parts of Vietnam’s territory throughlong history.
This was affirmed by Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoc,Director of National University’s Institute of Vietnamese Studies andDevelopment Science, who has spent over 20 years studying antique mapsand documents relating to Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, in a recent interviewwith the People’s Army Newspaper about scientifically historicalevidence affirming Vietnam’s sovereignty over sea and islands.
Ngocstarted studying old maps of national sovereignty in 1993 as he wasassigned to be the head of a state level project on national sovereigntyover Hoang Sa and Truong Sa. In spite of being busy teaching, he spentmost of his time collecting international documents, especially maps,including Chinese ones relating to the two archipelagoes.
Prof.Ngoc remembered the time when he and his fellows came to original Cu LaoRe (present Ly Son island district) to find evidence. In spite ofdifficulties, islanders were very enthusiastic and created mostfavourable conditions to help Ngoc’s delegation fullfil its mission,offering Ngoc’s team many useful documents that they had. Ly Son Islandmade Ngoc believe that the spirit of defending national sovereignty oversea and islands of Vietnamese people has been built very long time ago.
Ngoc also traveled to various countries to search for antiquemaps relating to Truong Sa and Hoang Sa archipelagoes with theassistance of his friends. “Learning that I have been studying documentsand maps of the two archipelagoes, many friends of mine, mostly friendsof these countries wholeheartedly support me in finding and researchingas well”, said Ngoc.
During his 20 years of teaching, Ngoc haspassed down the passion of studying documents about Truong Sa and HoangSa Archipelagoes, patriotism and responsibility of defending the sacrednational sovereignty over sea and islands to various generations ofstudents.
He added that it was thanks to one of his students,Nguyen Thi Hai, who was studying in Paris, France that he could find aninvaluable international atlas, named “Atlas Universel de Geographie”(World Atlas of Geography), asserting Vietnam’s obvious ownership ofHoang Sa and Truong Sa.
The atlas, with six volumes, compiled bya Belgian geographer Philippe Vandermaelen and published in 1827 inBrussels, Belgium, is evaluated as an invaluable evidence affirmingVietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes. It wasannounced by the Ministry of Information and Communications last midMay.
The atlas includes four maps of Vietnam under the name “Deche An Nam” (An Nam Empire) by Western people with a brief introductionof “An Nam Empire” sticking next to the Hoang Sa archipelago. Thisaffirms that Hoang Sa is part of “Dang trong” (Cochinchine) of Vietnam.The names of islands in Hoang Sa Archipelago have not changed untiltoday.
Hai discovered the map numbered 106, called Partie de laCochinchine, part of the Atlas when she studied in the French NationalLibrary. Knowing that Ngoc has passion for studying documents aboutHoang Sa and Truong Sa, she photographed the map and sent it to Ngoc.
Realisingthat this was an invaluable map clearly affirming Vietnam’ssovereignty, Ngoc asked her to buy the copied map which is evaluated as avaluable evidence proving that Hoang Sa and Truong Sa belong toVietnam. Then, he decided to trace the origin and conduct intensivestudy on the international map which is very important to Vietnam. AfterHai had assured that the map was exactly published in Belgium in 1827,Ngoc asked the Ministry of Information and Communications to createfavourable conditions for him to directly find the original map.
Hisproposal was approved and Ngo Chi Dung, Eco Pharma Co.’s Director, whobought all six original volumes of the atlas in Belgium’s Gent city,including Partie de la Cochinchine and brought home to add morescientifically historical evidences to assert Vietnam’s sovereignty oversea and islands, sponsoring Ngoc’s researches on the atlas in foreigncountries.
Philippe Vandermaelen’s atlas is reliable as itwas created based on the world’s best maps in early 19th century.Through field surveys and researches, experts verified that the atlasaccurately drawn in detail by scientific methods is the original.
Theprofessor affirmed that in spite of studying many old internationalmaps relating to Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, this atlas was one of theinvaluable maps affirming Vietnam’s indisputable sovereignty over thetwo archipelagoes.
“The atlas is invaluable by its objectiveness and scientific grounds asserting Vietnam’s sovereignty over sea and islands.”-VNA