Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) are two archipelagoes that have a very important strategic location on the East Sea, in terms of economic and national security aspect. Therefore, sovereignty disputes in the East Sea, particularly over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes, have become political hot spots in the area. Many countries have been trying to provide evidence for their sovereignty over these two islands. In the eyes of the law, however, no country but Vietnam has enough strong and authentic evidence to prove the sovereignty.
Many works so far published in Vietnam have disseminated a wide range of documents in order to confirm the undisputed sovereignty of Vietnam over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes. Among those, the book “The Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes - part of Vietnam’s territory - from the standpoint of International Law” by Nguyen Q. Thang is one of the meticulous works of collecting and research. Various materials on history, geography, natural resources… related to the assertion of the sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes are contained in this book, being systematically and scientifically arranged.
Through historical data entered carefully and fairly completely in the book, readers can realize that not only Vietnamese historians but many navigators, geographers and some Western researchers all have ever affirmed since many centuries ago the sovereignty of Vietnam over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa. Besides his proclamation of historical documents, the author also looks at this matter from the viewpoint of International Law, this is the way by which many countries in the world have employed in order to satisfactorily settle all disputes – through which they confirm that Vietnam has all necessary legal bases to assert that Hoang Sa, Truong Sa are integral parts of the Vietnam’s inseparable sacred territory.
After its publication, the Vietnamese version of this book has been highly welcomed with appreciation, and reprinted many times so far. This proves the book is of great value and that the issue of their native oceanic islands draws Vietnamese people’s close attention. With much deep aspiration to disseminate these documents in order to reassert the sovereignty of Vietnam over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes and to help both domestic readers and those in the international communities to gain an insight into the issue so that they can have objective and judicious view on Hoang Sa and Truong Sa and Vietnam’s sovereignty over these two archipelagoes as well, we, Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House, publish the English version of the book “The Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes – part of Vietnam’s territory – from the standpoint of International Law” by Nguyen Q. Thang. We hope that this book would be a useful reference document for those, whether native or alien, who want to examine more aspects of the issue of the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa in the current situation, especially about the sovereignty of Vietnam over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes. We also hope to get your attention and sincere contribution so that the book will be a perfect one in the second edition.
It is our pleasure to highly recommend this valuable book “The Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes - part of Vietnam’s territory - from the standpoint of International Law” - by Nguyen Q. Thang to all readers.
HO CHI MINH CITY GENERAL
PUBLISHING HOUSE