Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Chu Pham Ngoc Hien on May 21 worked with the Viet Nam Administration of Seas and Islands (VASI) and the Steering Committee of the Viet Nam Seas and Islands Week 2013 to finalise the contents of the events that will take place during the Week.

In response to Vietnamese Sea and Island Week, on June 2, the Ministry of Information and Communication in coordination with other ministries, agencies and the Ha Tinh provincial People’s Committee organised an exhibition of maps and documents entitled “Viet Nam’s Hoang Sa and Truong Sa - historical evidence”.

The exhibition features historical evidence to affirm Viet Nam’s inviolable sacred sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes through ancient maps and graphics published by the country and China. In particular, Dai Nam Nhat Thong Toan Do (Unified Dai Nam Complete Map) drawn in 1834 under the reign of King Minh Mang and An Nam Dai Quoc Do Hoa (Map of the Great Country of Dai Nam) released in 1838 prove that Hoang Sa archipelago and Van Ly Truong Sa (Truong Sa archipelago) are part of Viet Nam’s territory, while Hoang Trieu Truc Tinh Dia Du Toan Do (Geological Map of the provinces of the Kingdom) published in 1904 by the Qing Dynasty of China indicates the southernmost point of China is ended at Hainan island.

The VNG Joint Stock Company on May 30 announced that it would coordinate with the Viet Nam Television (VTV) in organising a live television programme linking Hanoi and Truong Sa archipelago themed “Our seas and islands”.

The Television Magazine has launched a campaign, themed “Sharing feelings about the homeland’s sea and islands” from May 23 to June 6. To support the campaign, the Viet Nam Television will hold a live television programme, themed “Our sea and islands” linking Ha Noi and Truong Sa archipelago at 8.05 p.m. on June 7 on its channels VTV1 and VTV4.

An extraordinary meeting of the Viet Nam-Laos Joint Commission on Border Marker Planting took place in Ha Noi on May 28. The Vietnamese delegation to the meeting was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Ho Xuan Son, who is also head of the National Boundary Commission and Chairman of the Viet Nam-Laos Joint Commission on Border Marker Planting, while the Lao delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Bounkeut Sangsomsack, head of the National Border Committee and Chairman of the Laos-Viet Nam Joint Commission on Border Marker Planting.

The French Naval Gowind-class offshore patrol vessel L’Adroit, commanded by naval lieutenant colonel Luc Regnier with a crew of 54, will dock at the port of Hai Phong to visit Hai Phong city from May 27 to June 1 with Vietnamese Prime Minister’s permission.

On May 21, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of central Ha Tinh province Nguyen Thien worked with relevant agencies on organising an exhibition of maps and documents on Viet Nam’s Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos. The exhibition, themed “Viet Nam’s Hoang Sa, Truong Sa – historical evidence”, was scheduled to open at 7.30am on June 2 at the province’s culture and cinema centre and last until June 8.