Leaders of Quang Ngai Province People’s Committee transferred a historical document, related to the disputed Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands, to a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on April 10.

A leader of Quang Ngai Province People’s Committee transfers a valuable historical document to a representative of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Photo: SGGP)A leader of Quang Ngai Province People’s Committee transfers a valuable historical document to a representative of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Photo: SGGP)

The document is a royal ordinance from King Minh Mang sending a crew of three ships, with 24 sailors, to the Hoang Sa in 1834.

The valuable document was kept by the Dang family in An Hai commune, Ly Son island district, for more than 170 years.

According to Dr. Dang Nguyen Vu, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism of Quang Ngai Province, this historical document is the royal ordinance of the Nguyen Dynasty, which sent a number of soldiers to protect the Paracel Islands.

This is one more piece of evidence proving that the Paracel Islands belongs to Vietnam. Some families on Ly Son island have provided many documents to state agencies related to the Paracel Islands, but they have only been copies. Only Dang family’s document is an original.

On this occasion, the leaders of Quang Ngai Province People’s Committee offered Dang family credit for keeping the valuable document safe.

VietNamNet/SGGP