Regarding sovereignty over the Hoang Sa-Truong Sa archipelago, we have many historical documents to prove it. One of the most important documents is the Nguyen Dynasty's Royal Records, especially since May 14, 2014, the Royal Records became a World Documentary Heritage. On this occasion, CAND Newspaper reporters interviewed Prof. Phan Huy Le, President of the Vietnam Historical Science Association, about the legal values affirming Vietnam's sovereignty over the Hoang Sa-Truong Sa archipelago, including the Royal Records.
Professor Phan Huy Le: "The main content of these Chau Bans is to honestly reflect the organization and management activities of the Nguyen Dynasty on the two archipelagos of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa... These are activities that prove that the Nguyen Dynasty truly held the right to manage and fully exercise national sovereignty over these two archipelagos." Photo: Bui Tuan
- Professor, as the person who directly advised on the preparation of the Royal Records dossier to submit to UNESCO, how do you evaluate the international legal significance of the Royal Records, when they become World Documentary Heritage, in affirming the country's sovereignty?
Professor Phan Huy Le:The recognition of the Nguyen Dynasty Royal Records of Vietnam by UNESCO as a Documentary Heritage of the Memory of the World Program is very encouraging. Because it not only honors a cultural value of Vietnam, but also contributes to affirming Vietnam's sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa.
The Imperial Decree is a document with the Imperial Decree's approval stamp, accompanied by the royal dynasty's seal, a special archival document of the royal dynasty, currently only 773 volumes are preserved at the State Records and Archives Department. The Imperial Decree is valuable in many aspects: science, history and culture. The Imperial Decree is a very special, unique, and official original document of the nation, honestly reflecting all aspects of the country's situation during the Nguyen Dynasty, and at the same time, expressing the political ideology of the royal dynasty. Therefore, historians call the Imperial Decree the original document, with the most honest value. The previous dynasties of Vietnam did not leave Imperial Decrees with their handwriting, but the Nguyen Dynasty, the Emperors all left handwriting on the Imperial Decree. Thanks to that, I learned the interesting surprise that King Bao Dai not only wrote in French, knew the national language, but also knew Chinese, leaving behind beautiful imperial decrees, etc.
UNESCO emphasized the values of the Royal Records according to the criteria of World Documents: authenticity, special rarity and international significance. According to the Nguyen Dynasty's document system, the documents were submitted by the Cabinet to the emperor for approval, the original documents were kept at the Cabinet and some copies were "copied" and given to relevant ministries, agencies and localities to be responsible for implementation. Therefore, the Royal Records are the original and only copies. The Royal Records contain petitions from localities requesting the emperor's judgment, so they have the value of reflecting not only the policies of the royal court but also the overall situation of the country, including diplomatic relations with foreign countries. In addition, the Royal Records also contain truthful information for research on papermaking techniques, writing through the periods, types of seals, and the king's handwriting... In addition to its general value, the Royal Records also have special value regarding Vietnam's sovereignty over the East Sea.
Royal Records of Nguyen Dynasty
- Could you please elaborate on the content affirming that Hoang Sa - Truong Sa belong to Vietnam's sovereignty in the Minutes?
Professor Phan Huy Le:Regarding sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, we have sufficient historical and legal grounds to affirm. Vietnam has continuously managed and exercised sovereignty over these two archipelagos since at least the 17th century. During the Nguyen Dynasty, especially under the reigns of King Gia Long and King Minh Mang, the management and exercise of sovereignty were carried out regularly and very tightly organized. This is recorded through many types of documents, of which the Chau Ban is a particularly valuable document. Of the 773 volumes of Chau Ban still preserved to this day, there are 18 Chau Ban sheets related to Hoang Sa and Truong Sa. Including the Chau Ban sheet from the Bao Dai period kept by historian Phan Thuan An in Hue and presented to the Government, there are 19 sheets. The main content of these Chau Ban sheets is to truthfully reflect the organization and management activities of the Nguyen Dynasty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos. Accordingly, the court annually sent a naval team in conjunction with the Hoang Sa team (a militia organization that existed since the Nguyen Lords) to the island to measure waterways, conduct surveys, make maps, set up sovereignty markers, exploit products, etc. These were activities that demonstrated that the Nguyen Dynasty truly held the right to manage and fully exercise national sovereignty over these two archipelagos. In this regard, the content of the Chau Ban is consistent with many other types of documents such as historical books.Dai Nam Thuc Luc, Dai Nam Chronicle,the canons, the geographyDai Nam Hoi Dien, Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi… But the special value of the Royal Records is the combination of historical value with legal value. The Royal Records are legal documents of the state with the Royal Approval and the seal of the royal court. I call it a dual value, both historical and legal.
The Royal Records are a priceless cultural heritage of the country. Recently, on May 14, 2014, the Royal Records were recognized by UNESCO as a Documentary Heritage of the Asia-Pacific region (and soon, this heritage will have enough value to be upgraded to a World Documentary Heritage). That honoring took place right at the time when the people of the whole country were protesting against China's action of bringing the Haiyang 981 drilling rig into the continental shelf of Vietnam's exclusive economic zone. This is an interesting and meaningful coincidence because the cultural and legal value of the Royal Records has transcended the national scope and reached the international level.
- China's deployment of the Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig into Vietnam's waters has caused outrage in the country and internationally. As the President of the Vietnam Historical Science Association, could you please share your opinion on this issue?
Professor Phan Huy Le:This is a blatant violation of Vietnam's sovereignty, because the location of the drilling rig is deep in the continental shelf belonging to our country's exclusive economic zone, violating the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Furthermore, along with the drilling rig, China also has a large escort fleet, including warships, threatening, even ramming and using water cannons to attack Vietnamese ships on the mission of protecting sovereignty, which means using force and threatening to use force. This also violates the UN Charter on relations between nations and violates the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC).
In addition to the above violation of Vietnam's sovereignty, it is especially necessary for us to expose two extremely erroneous arguments of China, so that the world public opinion can clearly understand their ambitions and deep plots.
China claims that the drilling rig is near Tri Ton Island, which is within its sovereign territory. Tri Ton is an island in the Hoang Sa archipelago, which has long been under Vietnam's sovereignty. In 1974, China used force to invade, which the Government of the Republic of Vietnam strongly protested and condemned. After 1975, the unified Vietnamese Government continuously affirmed its sovereignty over Hoang Sa as well as Truong Sa, and continuously protested China's illegal occupation of the two archipelagos of Vietnam. Therefore, China's above argument is to use a past act of aggression to justify its current violation of Vietnam's sovereignty. Historically and argumentatively, it is a deception.
China also claims that the location of the drilling rig is within the “cow tongue line” or “nine-dash line” under their sovereignty. We need to expose the absurdity and illegality of this argument. In 1947, an official of the Internal Affairs Bureau of the Republic of China arbitrarily drew a cow tongue or U-shaped line on a map of China, wrapping around almost the entire East Sea. At that time, the line consisted of 11 segments, even going deep into Vietnam's Gulf of Tonkin. The origin of the “cow tongue line” was entirely personal, drawn arbitrarily, without even specifying the coordinates, only reflecting an expansionist ambition. Since 1948, some Chinese maps have included the “cow tongue line” and later, removing two segments that encroached too unreasonably deep into the Gulf of Tonkin, leaving 9 segments. Recently, all Chinese maps must have the “cow tongue line” or “nine-dash line”. In 2009, China presented a map with the “cow tongue line” to the UN Secretary General in order to legitimize it, but immediately, Vietnam and countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, etc. all strongly objected. In international conversations about the East Sea, many scholars questioned China, but they could not provide any historical or legal arguments. In fact, the “cow tongue line” was drawn arbitrarily, without historical or legal basis, and completely without scientific basis. International public opinion, many countries, and even some Chinese scholars, have criticized the “cow tongue line”.
But China still believes that the “cow tongue line” is their sea and, regardless of the absurdity and illegality, they continue to explore step by step to impose it on reality and then realize it by force. This nine-dash line occupies nearly 80% of the East Sea, encroaching on the territorial waters and exclusive economic zones of many countries and monopolizing the most important international shipping route in the world connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean in the East Sea.
It must be emphasized that this is an ambitious expansion strategy of China. For Vietnam, the cable cutting incident of the Binh Minh ship is an exploratory step and the placement of the drilling rig in Vietnam's waters is a very high and blatant test of China's ambition. The Chinese Ocean Oil Company has publicly declared this giant drilling rig as a "mobile border", wherever the drilling rig goes, China's border will expand. What an arrogant attitude, disregarding the sovereignty of other countries.
The “cow tongue line” strategy not only threatens Vietnam but also all coastal Southeast Asian countries, threatens peace and security in Southeast Asia, and threatens maritime security and safety in the East Sea of countries around the world. If the placement of the 981 drilling rig is successful, China will certainly continue to take new steps, using its power to gradually impose its expansion strategy in the East Sea. Vietnam is both fighting to defeat China’s violation of sovereignty at sea and warning countries in the region and the world that this is a probing step to implement a large-scale and profound expansion strategy, threatening the interests of the entire region and the world.
Thank you, Professor!
Author:Thanh Hang (according to People's Police Newspaper)
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