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No not the imperialists in the West
BEIJING (AFP) - Road builders demolished a large section of China's World Heritage-listed Great Wall last month in an indication of the perilous state of one of the world's best known landmarks, state media said.
Almost 100 meters (333 feet) of the wall in northern Ningxia autonomous region was levelled in two overnight raids by construction workers who used the material to pave a road, the Ningxia Daily said.
The destroyed area near Zhongwei city was constructed during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in an region known as "the Great Wall Museum" because of the profusion of rammed earth sections of the wall.
Less than 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles) remain of the 6,300 kilometer long wall that was first built in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). It was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty to keep out northern tribes threatening the Chinese heartland.
Zhongwei's public security bureau is investigating the case and has vowed that those responsible will be forced to rebuild what they demolished, the report said.
It is not the first time the wall has been plundered for building materials in Nixgxia. Last year, a 400 metre (1,320 feet) section disappeared with the culprits never found.
Dong Yaohui, vice president of the China Great Wall Academy, said punishments were too lax and needed to be tightened.
He was quoted as saying that several years ago a man who plundered the wall only received an 80,000 yuan (9,666) fine, amounting to less than it would have cost to buy legal construction materials, proving no deterrent.
The Great Wall is under such serious threat from human development across China that the central government last year took the drastic step of seizing control of it from local governments.
Currently, the responsibility of protecting the wall, which stretches across several provinces and municipalities, is down to different local authorities.
The wall was listed on the United Nations (news - web sites)' prestigious World Heritage List in 1987, but far from ensuring its preservation critics argue that it has only succeeded in shrouding it in a "false cloak of security".
Almost 100 meters (333 feet) of the wall in northern Ningxia autonomous region was levelled in two overnight raids by construction workers who used the material to pave a road, the Ningxia Daily said.
The destroyed area near Zhongwei city was constructed during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in an region known as "the Great Wall Museum" because of the profusion of rammed earth sections of the wall.
Less than 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles) remain of the 6,300 kilometer long wall that was first built in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). It was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty to keep out northern tribes threatening the Chinese heartland.
Zhongwei's public security bureau is investigating the case and has vowed that those responsible will be forced to rebuild what they demolished, the report said.
It is not the first time the wall has been plundered for building materials in Nixgxia. Last year, a 400 metre (1,320 feet) section disappeared with the culprits never found.
Dong Yaohui, vice president of the China Great Wall Academy, said punishments were too lax and needed to be tightened.
He was quoted as saying that several years ago a man who plundered the wall only received an 80,000 yuan (9,666) fine, amounting to less than it would have cost to buy legal construction materials, proving no deterrent.
The Great Wall is under such serious threat from human development across China that the central government last year took the drastic step of seizing control of it from local governments.
Currently, the responsibility of protecting the wall, which stretches across several provinces and municipalities, is down to different local authorities.
The wall was listed on the United Nations (news - web sites)' prestigious World Heritage List in 1987, but far from ensuring its preservation critics argue that it has only succeeded in shrouding it in a "false cloak of security".
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