VietNamNet Bridge – The Postal Department under the Ministry of Information and Communications on Wednesday, August 28, protested the China Post Agency’s issuance of stamps violating Vietnam's sovereignty.

China Post Agency has recently issued a set of stamps with six designs on the occasion of the National Tourism Day (19/5). One design has the image of the islands belonging to Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracels Islands).

The stamp shows image of the seven islands in the An Vinh island group in northeastern Hoang Sa which are illegal occupied by China. China Post Agency also released envelopes and postcards with the image of the above group of islands.

In the message posted on the official website of the Ministry of Information and Communication of Vietnam, the Postal Service Department confirmed that the above act is the violation of Vietnam's sovereignty over Hoang Sa Islands. Vietnam has sufficient legal basis for its claims over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa islands.

According to the Postal Service Department, this act is contrary to the provisions of the World Postal Union (Article 8 of the Convention).

The Vietnam postal agency protested the above action of the China Post Agency and asked this organization to respect the truth and immediately cancel the stamp, envelope and postcard printed with the image of the above islands.

In June, the HCM City-based Viet Stamp club sent a document to the Ministry of Information and Communications to show its objection of the Chinese stamp that violates sovereignty of Vietnam over Hoang Sa.

Viet Stamp said that China Post Agency used the pretext of promoting tourism to propaganda for the so-called "Sansha City." Viet Stap Club also stressed that this is not the first time China Post Agency did this. In 2004, China issued the stamp set of border landscape with 10 samples, including one with the image of Hoang Sa.

Tran Cham