VietNamNet Bridge – More than 170 Overseas Vietnamese youths from 30 countries begun a five-day tour of Da Nang, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh on Wednesday.

Photo: VOV

The tour, which is part of an annual summer camp, started in Ha Noi on July 8 and ends on July 27 in HCM City.

The first stop was Da Nang city museum to witness a collection of documents and maps outlining Viet Nam's sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos.

"It's the first time that I have visited Da Nang," said Hoang Hiep, 17, a high-school student from Poland.

"I left Viet Nam when I was a baby. My parents were from Bac Giang Province," he said.

"This is the third time I have returned to Viet Nam, but this journey is very exciting as I have joined up with other overseas Vietnamese," he added.

Khanh Ngan, 18, said she was interested in the annual summer camp because it gave her a chance to find her roots.

Nguyen Huy Truong Nam, 18, from Moscow, said he left Viet Nam four years ago.

"The Vietnamese community in Russia has heard news of the East Sea tension and China's illegal placement of oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 inside Viet Nam's continental shelf," Nam said.

"Many Vietnamese in Russia and their Russian friends flocked to demonstrations asking China to withdraw its oil rig from Viet Nam's waters," he said.

"This journey will help me learn more about the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) islands."

Colonel Tran Van Dung, of the Zone 2 Marine Police, and Vuong Manh Hoa from the Fisheries Surveillance Force, talked to the youths about the acts of violence by Chinese ships that endangered the lives of Vietnamese fishermen.

The youths were also shown the images of the wreck of sunken fishing trawler DNa TS 90152, which rammed by Chinese boats in Vietnamese waters.

The youths will join a ceremony for souls of martyrs at Linh Ung Pagoda in Son Tra Mountain on Saturday.

They leave for a trip to Ly Son Island in central Quang Ngai Province today.

Ly Son Island preserves Am Linh Pagoda, a place of worship for seamen sent to the Paracel Islands in the Nguyen dynasty from the 17th century.

A museum of the two archipelagos displays over 200 ancient documents and 100 objects that show that the two island groups belong to Viet Nam.

The summer camp has been organised by the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2004.

VNS/VNN