ĐÀ NẴNG — The Hoàng Sa District People’s Committee will display a shipwreck that was rammed by Chinese boats in Vietnamese waters off the Hoàng Sa (Paracel) Archipelago at the city’s Hoàng Sa Museum.

An official from the district, Lê Phú Nguyện told Việt Nam News yesterday that the shipwreck (fishing trawler DNa TS 90152), hit by Chinese ships in 2014 and then salvaged and brought to Thọ Quang shipyard, will be placed in the yard of the under construction Hoàng Sa Museum in Sơn Trà Peninsula.

Nguyện said the city’s People’s Committee and People’s Council agreed to reserve a 500sq.m location to display the shipwreck as evidence of the attack by Chinese ships on Vietnamese fishing vessels in Việt Nam’s sovereign waters.

The shipwreck display is scheduled to be launched this September at the same time as the inauguration of the Hoàng Sa Museum on Hoàng Sa Road, according to Nguyện.

Nguyện also said the shipwreck will lure tourists and local residents to study Hoàng Sa (Paracel) Archipelago history with vintage documents, photos and objects from Việt Nam’s islands.

In 2015, the city started construction on Hoàng Sa Museum, inspired by the design of a 1835-made seal from the Nguyễn Dynasty’s King Minh Mạng  for the Hoàng Sa Flotilla.

The district’s People’s Committee said the seal shows Việt Nam’s sovereignty over the Hoàng Sa (Paracel) and Trường Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes.

The museum will store and display collections of artefacts and documents on Việt Nam’s sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly islands.

According to Hoàng Sa District, a collection of 95 maps published between 1626 and 1980, 10 of which indicate that the Paracel and Spratly archipelagoes belong to Việt Nam, and 102 books published in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, and the Hán Chinese script will be displayed. Many maps in the exhibition also indicate that the frontier of Southern China is Hainan Island and that Paracel belongs to Việt Nam.

Many domestic and overseas Vietnamese collectors have donated old maps and documents related to Việt Nam’s sovereignty over the Hoàng Sa and Trường Sa archipelagoes.

Many ancient maps and documents published during the Ming and Qing dynasties between the 16th and early 20th century show that China’s borders did not include the Hoàng Sa (Paracel) and Trường Sa (Spratly) islands.

In January, the Hoàng Sa District People’s Committee held a meeting of 12 people who lived, worked and protected the Hoàng Sa  from 1959-1974.

Hoàng Sa was illegally occupied by Chinese forces on January 19, 1974.

The city has set aside 128,543ha for the development of Hoàng Sa District, including the Hoàng Sa (Paracel), following the Prime Minister’s decision on the city’s adjusted master urban plan for 2030 and 2050.

The Hoàng Sa District’s People’s Committee hopes to include two fishing precincts, Thọ Quang and Mân Thái, in Hoàng Sa Island District. — VNS

On May 26, 2014, the fishing ship DNa TS 90152 from Đà Nẵng was fishing 17 nautical miles away from the illegally placed Chinese oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 when the Chinese ship rammed it from behind, causing it to sink. Fortunately, the ship’s crew was saved by Vietnamese coast guard vessels in the vicinity.

The Chinese ship (code 11209) intentionally rammed the Vietnamese fishing ship to harm the 10 fishermen on board.

Huỳnh Thị Như Hoa, owner of the Vietnamese trawler, said she kept the wreck as proof of the illegal and brutal actions of the Chinese.