Digital exhibition on Vietnam’s Hoang Sa, Truong Sa opens in Quang Tri

A digital exhibition on Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes was opened in Tran Hung Dao Secondary School in Cam Lo Town, Quang Tri by the Quang Tri Department of Information and Communication in partnership with Cam Lo People’s Committee.

Digital exhibition “Hoang Sa and Truong Sa of Vietnam – Historic and Legal Evidence” opens in Cam Lo, Quang Tri on April 15. Photo: Le Truong

Titled “Hoang Sa and Truong Sa of Vietnam – Historic and Legal Evidence”, the exhibition helps local officials, people, and students understand more about the islands, the significance of the archipelagoes, and the national defense. It also helps disseminate knowledge of the island and the country’s sovereignty.

The event is aimed to gain international support for Vietnam’s sovereignty protection, especially the two archipelagoes.

At the exhibition, army officers of Naval Unit 202 of Vietnam’s Coast Guard Region 2 gave broad details regarding the two archipelagos, Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, including their geographical location, administrative boundaries, historical background, and legal underpinnings that support Vietnam’s sovereignty over them.

Naval officer introduces the exhibition for schoolchildren. Photo: Le Truong

At the same time, visitors can simultaneously view priceless records and artifacts, including antiquated maps of China, Vietnam, and Western nations, as well as bibliographies. A variety of concepts and a 3D virtual reality technology platform are used to integrate and digitize artifacts in virtual space, including ambulance stretchers, ship models, sovereignty milestones, and ship models from the Hoang Sa Flotilla. In the meantime, paper maps are framed in wooden frames.

On this occasion, the Department of Information and Communication awarded prizes to five students who won the online contest on examining Vietnam’s sea and islands held between April 9 and 13, attracting 3,361 secondary schoolchildren in Cam Lo.

The exhibition “Hoang Sa and Truong Sa of Vietnam – Historic and Legal Evidence” is an annual event held in different localities in Quang Tri. The same exhibition, featuring old maps and other historical documents that show Vietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes, is also organized in all parts of Vietnam to promote awareness of the national defense and understanding of the country’s sea and islands as well as its sovereignty.

Historical documents show that since at least the seventeenth century, Vietnam has effectively administered the Paracel and Spratly Islands, which were previously considered terra nullius. Vietnam supports its claims to the islands with a number of historical records.

Le Truong – Linh Pham