Old western maps affirm Paracel, Spratly belong to Vietnam

     From the sixteenth century to the nineteenth century, Paracel and Spratly islands were acknowledged by Western cartographers and navigators as the territories of Vietnam.

Western and Eastern history from the past to present has shown that sovereignty is a sacred matter for every single country. Thus, the development process of each nation has shaped the national awareness of country sovereignty and protection of its sacred sovereignty. The historical evidence which have been publicized are the historical and legal foundation affirming Vietnam’s sovereign over Paracel and Spratly archipelagos.

East India map by Pieter or Petrus in 1594

This map drawn by Petrus or Pieter in 1594 shows the two archipelagos of Paracel and Spratly.

The India Orientalis (East of India) was drawn by Jodocus Hondius in 1613. On this map, Paracel and Spratly islands were connected like a blade.

In the map made by Jodocus Hondius in 1613, the Frael (Paracel) archipelago includes all the islands located from the Tonkin Gulf to Vietnam’s southern sea, except for Condor (Con Dao) and Pulo Cici (Phu Quoc), which were drawn separately.

Carte de l'Asia map by Homann Heirs in 1744

Carte de l'Asia (Map of Asia) was created by Homann Herrs in 1744. On this map, the Paracel Islands (including the Spratly Islands) is noted as "I. Ciampa," which stands for "Islands Ciampa”, meaning "The islands of the Kingdom of Ciampa". Ciempa or Campala are the names of the Cochin called by Western countries at that time since they believed that this kingdom was the old land of the Champa Kingdom.

         
        The Great Annam Map

The Great Annam Map, by Bishop Jean Louis Taberd in 1838 has the caption Paracel seu Cat Vang (Paracel means golden sand), which was written in Chinese, standard Vietnamese and Latin languages. Bishop Taberd is the author of an article in The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, volume 6, second part, 1837, published in Calcutta, which confirmed "Paracels or Pracel belongs to Cochinchina" – that is, to Vietnam. The original map is now kept at the Richelieu National Library in Paris, France.

That’s the implicit way that the world has recognized that the Paracel Islands truly belong to the sovereignty of Vietnam for at least the past five centuries.

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