Vietnam's sovereignty over Paracel and Spratly Islands
(QNO) - 34 old maps proving that China has never had any sovereignty over Paracel and Spratly Islands have recently been sent to Vietnam from Connecticut (USA) by Tran Thang, an engineer working for Pratt & Whitney- an American aerospace manufacturer and President of the New York-based Institute for Vietnamese Culture and Education.
In 2012, Mr. Thang sent to Da Nang city more than 100 old maps and 3 old atlases of the East Sea, China and Maritime Southeast Asia proving that Paracel and Spratly Islands never belong to China. All the maps are exclusive. 70 of them are maps of China where the southernmost point of Chinese territory is identified at Hai Nam Island. On 15 others, Paracel and Spratly Islands are drawn close to Vietnam (A question is why these islands are not put near any country such as Korea, China, Singapore, the Philippines, or Brunei but near Vietnam). The last ones are of Asia and Southeast Asia where Paracel and Spratly Islands are shown to belong to Vietnam.
These maps and atlases have very high legal and historical status. They are now exhibited at the museums and exhibition halls in Da Nang city.
Professor Carl Thayer, an expert on the East Sea at the University of New South Wales (Australia) said that the maps collected by Tran Thang show the contradictions in China’s statement about its sovereignty over the two disputed islands. Three atlases also demonstrate that China has never had any sovereignty over Paracels and Spratly Islands. These atlases are also in Da Nang city now.
