First of all, PM Pham Van Dong’s letter only recognised and approved the decision regarding the 12 nautical mile breadth for China’s territorial sea.
Secondly, PM Pham Van Dong’s letter had no word mentioning territorial and sovereignty issue or any archipelagos. Therefore, the letter did not have a constitutive character for giving up territory.
Thirdly, by the Geneva Accords, Vietnam was divided temporarily into two parts at the 17th parallel, pending reunification through free general elections.
China is one of the signatories of the Geneva Accords and it must know clearly that the two Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, lying under the 17th parallel, were under the administration of the Republic of Vietnam.
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