Han-Nom documents prove Vietnam’s sovereignty over archipelagos

The Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) has published documents in Han (Chinese script) and Nom (Vietnamese ideographic script) affirming Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes and its waters in East Sea.

The book includes many copies of original historical documents which were made public for the first time.

The 46 Han-Nom documents in the book were collected by the Institute of Han-Nom Studies, with transcriptions and translations attached.

They contain valuable and important information asserting Vietnam’s sovereignty and exercise of sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes and its waters in the East Sea.

The documents will serve as historical and legal evidence confirming Vietnam’s sovereignty as well as its protection of sovereignty over the two archipelagoes and its maritime zones in the East Sea, said VASS President Nguyen Xuan Thang.

He stated that there have been many projects conducted by researchers on Vietnam’s sovereignty, and all of them prove that Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes belong to Vietnam, and have been managed and exploited by the Vietnamese State for many centuries.

These documents will be published in English, he added.

According to Director of the Institute of Han-Nom Studies Trinh Khac Manh, these documents form only a small amount of the Han-Nom documents demonstrating that Hoang Sa always belonged to Vietnam’s sovereignty and China only occupied it by force in 1974. This has also been clearly shown in Chinese and Western maps.

He also said that the documents show the two archipelagoes have for a long time been a place where Vietnamese residents live and exploit aquatic resources.