Interview by Voice of America

During the interview, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Truong discussed the South China Sea/East Sea issue, the HD-981 incident, Vietnam-China relationship, the role of ASEAN and the U.S in the South China Sea/East Sea issue, possible solutions for the South China Sea/East Sea conflict… 

Interview by Voice of America

To answer the question: “What is Vietnam’s claim of sovereignty for the Spratly and Paracel islands based on?”, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Truong – author of the newly-published book “On the East Sea Issue” - stated that no other countries has a historical process of exerting sovereignty on the Spratly and Paracel islands as long as Vietnam. Dr. Truong went through the Vietnamese administrating process of those islands, including 4 phases from the time of Lord Nguyen Phuc Nguyen (1613-1635) (with the Hoang Sa fleet founded in 1631) to modern time 350 years later. Vietnam also has a diverse and complete archive to prove sovereignty that is second to none. It contained royal decrees, wooden printing plates, historical books, documents from Chinese explorers, Western adventurers and missionaries… In 1838, the Nguyen Dynasty issued a map demonstrating Spratly and Paracel islands as part of Vietnam’s territory, meanwhile in 1905 a map of Qing Dynasty in China showed that Hainan Island was China’s southernmost point.

Interview by Voice of America

Explaining why those islands are so important to the Vietnamese people, Dr. Truong emphasized that the East Sea is an essential part of Vietnam’s history, culture and process of maintaining its independence. With a sea area of 1 million km², Vietnam is aiming to become a strong maritime country. Now the East Sea issue has become an international one; after the Vietnam War, the U.S showed little interest here. However, since 2009 America increased its presence in the area and played a crucial role in solving the East Sea issue.