The Truong Sa (Spratly) district off the central province of Khanh Hoa on April 5 held a ceremony to mark the 36 th anniversary of its liberation (April 29).

Attending the function was Lieutenant-General Nguyen Thanh Cung, member of the Party Central Committee and Deputy Director of the General Political Department of the People’s Army of Vietnam and representatives from departments and agencies.

Thirty-six years ago, after the glorious victories in Buon Me Thuot, Hue , Da Nang and Khanh Hoa, on the morning of April 14, 1975, the Vietnamese naval commandos landed to liberate the Song Tu Tay island.

This victory was followed by the liberation of the Son Ca island on April 25, the Sinh Ton island on April 28 and the whole Truong Sa islands on April 29.

Speaking at the ceremony, Liet. Gen Cung said cadres, soldiers and residents in Truong Sa, over the past time, brought into full play heroic traditions to surpass all difficulties to protect the national sea and island sovereignty.

The Sate, Party, army and people across the country always thoroughly understand losses of hundreds of families nationwide whose relatives had fallen down for the nation’s sea and island sovereignty, said Cung.

The Lieu. Gen took the occasion to propose Truong Sa Party Committee and local residents to consider economic development in combination with national defence and security in the archipelago the central task, build up and develop Truong Sa strongly and comprehensively in all aspects, preserve peace and stability in the new situation while actively participating in natural disaster prevention and rescue work.

Truong Sa is on the way to develop with more multifunctional establishments meeting demands of not only national defence but also economic development and local people’s spiritual life, he said.

He called on the Truong Sa Party Committee to create favourable conditions for the fishing of central coastal fishermen around the archipelago’s area.

Nguyen Huu Luc, Chairman of the Truong Sa People’s Committee, reviewed the archipelago’s 36-years history, saying Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa archipelagos have constituted a sacred part of the nation./.