The Map of all Chinese provinces (photo: Sina)

Ifeng station reported on the ceremony that was held to hand over the map to the National Museum of Vietnamese History. Ifeng also quoted Dr. Mai Hong who commented on the historical value of the map, which was made by China and printed by the Shanghai Publishing House in 1904. Meanwhile, the Chinese Stockstar and Sina’s military website, http://club.mil.news.sina.com.cn, described the size and origin of the map and said that according to the document, China stretches as far as Hainan island. This means the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa are not within China’s territory. The article posted on the website highlighted the research work and remarks by Dr. Mai Hong and historian Duong Trung Quoc about the legality of the map, thanks to Western methods which show modern latitude and longitude coordinates clearly. In particular, Stockstar called the two archipelagos by their Vietnamese names, Hoang Sa and Truong Sa. VOV