Here we have gathered a comprehensive list of historical documents that are proof of Vietnamese's undisputed ownership of the Islands.
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The Spratly Islands on old Maps |
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by Wolfgang Schippke
 One of the most detailed and oldest pmaps I could found about the seaare of the South China Sea, is the map of Mercator, dated to 1631. This map shows not only the islands in the Spratly Group, but also the Paracel islands and the small fronting islands of Vietnam like Palo Ceir and several more. It is sayed that Mercator dowed the mapps from the area round the South China Sea from several detailed Spain maps, dated to the end of the 16th century. In this map the island group is shown as Islas do Natuna, and Spratley, the western most island is named as Isla Arabio.
Isla Arabio could be also interpreted as Amboyna Cay, because the position is extreme undefined. The map showes also the Paracel island group , named as Paracel dos Tavaquerro.
The detailed Spain map 'Tabula orbis cogniti universalior', drawn by an unknown geographer from 1531 shows only Borneo and between Borneo and Vietnam several black points without any name. This map also showed not the Paracel Group. During this time the Spratly Group was known by the Portugese, as a letter to the Portugese Vizeking of India sayed. Alfrede de Amalanche, a geographer of a Portugese exppedition to Chinas coast line, sayed "there are several small sandy islands, we fronted on the way back from the Maccao Place to West India. All islands are located on a wide drying ground, where navigation is dangerous all the time. Some of these islands are inhabited by Chinese monks and several buildings stands on the larger islets". In 1537 the Portugese de Pinto sailed along the vietnams shores and named the Paracel Islands as Ilhas dos Tavaquerro.
In 1595 several Netherlande merchant ships reported also of a large number of sandy islets mid into the sea. between Borneo and the shores of Vietnam. 1599 till 1601 the HNetherlande van Noort explored the shores of north western Borneo and drifted up towards north and found several islands, surrounded by large coral reefs. In 1602 the Netherlande Admiral Wybrand van Warwijck sailed through the most unnamed islands, and reported of a name as Nuang Hyn for the islands fronting the northwestern Borneos shores. In 1618 the Netherlande Vizeking Pieterzoon Coen annexed most of the islands fronting the north western Borneo shores.
Source: http://community.middlebury.edu/~scs/docs/Schippke/sprat_h.html
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China- France convention respecting the Delimitation of the Frontier between China and Tokin (1887) |
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NB: It has been seen numerous times, especially in some dated "research" articles from Chinese scholars as well as Western scholars who make use of Chinese sources in their writings on the South China Sea conflict, that the 1887 Convention between China and France regarding boundaries between the two countries is used to justify China's claims over the Paracel and Spratly Islands. While this convention only resolves the boundary issue in the vicinity of the Gulf of Tonkin, and may be clearly seen in the very title of the Convention itself, numerous Chinese scholars extend the line of division well past the Gulf of Tonkin into the South China Sea to justify why China should have rights to the above mentioned archipelagoes. Many Western scholars who are not knowledgeable on the details of the history surrounding this issue also follow suit and cite the Convention in their discussion on the conflict. It is because of this great error that this Convention should be looked at in its full text to determine its "irrelevance" to the conflict taking place over the Spratly and Paracel Islands sovereignty issue. An analysis debunking the use of the Convention in arguments by Chinese and Western scholars has also been made by Dr. Dang Tu Minh Thu in the article "Sovereignty over Paracel and Spratly Islands: Analyzing the Viewpoints of Vietnam and China".
Convention between China and France respecting the Delimitation of the Frontier between China and Tonkin.
Whereas the Commissioners appointed by the President of the French Republic and His Majesty the Emperor of China, pursuant to Article 3 of the Treaty of June 9,1885, for the purpose of recognizing the boundary between China and Tonkin have now completed their work;
Mr. Ernest Constans, Deputy, former Minister of the Interior and Worship, Commissioner of the Government, and special envoy of the French Republic, and His Highness Prince King, prince of the second rank, President of the Tsoung-li Yamen[1], assisted by His Excellency Souen-Yu Quen, member of the Tsoung-li Yamen, and First Vice President of the Ministry of Public Works; Acting in the name of their respective Governments, have decided to record herein the following provisions for the official delimitation of the aforesaid boundary:
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References to Paracel Islands in Vietnamese Historical Books |
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Vietnamese History books have many references to the Paracel (Hoang Sa) Islands. Following are some quotations taken from Vietnamese historical volumes, detailing the knowledge about the archipelagoes along with the activities of exploiting and establishing sovereignty over the islands:
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Some Documents on China's Geography |
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Administrative Decisions Regarding Hoang Sa and Truong Sa |
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Below are two documents in the early 1900s that deal with placing the Paracel (Hoang Sa) Islands and the Spratly (Truong Sa) Islands under the administrative governance of Vietnam's Thua Thien and Ba Ria provinces, respectively.
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