In Vietnamese, "Bạch Long Vĩ" (chữ Hán: 白龍尾) means "The Tail of the White Dragon" - the former name of a peninsula ((mũi Bạch Long Vĩ / Cape Pak-lung) now known as the Bailong Peninsula (白龙半島) in Fangchenggang, Guangxi, China) before the French-Qing convention (1887).

[7] Historically, before the 20th century, Bạch Long Vĩ island was not inhabited due to the lack of water resources.

[9] In 1887, a convention between China (Qing dynasty) and France made the government cede the island to French Indochina (Annam Protectorate).

In August 1921, a resident of Giap Nam village, Co To county, Quang Yen province made an application to be allowed to cultivate in the lowland area of Bạch Long Vĩ Island.

In 1937, the Government of Emperor Bao Dai of Vietnam sent a squad of 12 men to form a garrison, established a village - commune (làng - xã) regime, appointed a village chief (Lý trưởng) on the island, and officially renamed the island is Bach Long Vi.

Abalone was a valuable sea product that was bought by Chinese merchant boats and sold to Guangdong (China).

[9] On that day, the Prime Minister of Vietnam signed Decree Number 49/Ttg which stipulated that Bạch Long Vĩ island is a “xã” (village) and belongs to Haiphong city.

That year a fish farm co-operative (Hợp tác xã Nông ngư), which had 93 workers and 22 hectares of land and 13 ships, was established on the island.

[9] On December 9, 1992, the Vietnamese government signed Decree Number 15/NĐ/CP which stipulated that Bạch Long Vĩ island is a district belonging to Haiphong.

The first question is whether or not it qualifies as an island according to the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (1982 UNCLOS).

Logically, Vietnam would take the position that Bach Long Vi Island should have its full impact in any agreement on how to divide the Gulf.