(BGF) – In a response to China’s controversial claims over Paracel and Spratly Islands, Thang Tran, President of The Institute for Vietnamese Culture & Education (U.S) announced that he has a collection of 150 maps that were published in England, America, France, Germany, Scotland, etc. for 400 year during 1626- 2008, in which shows that the Paracel Islands belong to Vietnam.
Mr Tran said the map dimensions vary from 8” x 10” (20cm x 25cm) to 24” x 30” (60cm x 75cm). In the collection, 80 maps indicate that south of China is Hainan Island and 50 maps show that the Paracel Islands belong to Vietnam.
He shared on his websites that he found two atlases of the Republic of China published by the Republic of China’s Ministry of Transportation in 1919 & 1933 and one Atlas of The Chinese Empire published by the China Inland Mission in 1908. The atlas edition in 1908 contains 23 maps; the atlas edition in 1919 contains 49 maps; the atlas edition in 1933 contains 29 maps. The dimensions of the atlas edition in 1919 & 1933 books are 62cm x 38cm x 4cm. All three books do not list the Paracel and Spratly Islands on the map and index page.
Recently, China established a local government and military base on Woody Island, part of the Spratly Islands. Vietnam claims its sovereignty over the Woody Islands.
He donated his entire map collection to the Da Nang Institute for Socio-Economic Development for their research on the Paracel and Spratly Islands.