With Premier Wen Jiabao in the chair a draft regulation on
protecting the Great Wall was considered Wednesday and
ratified in principle by the executive meeting of the State
Council.
The meeting declared that as the Great Wall was a world cultural heritage site and a symbol of the
Chinese nation it required to be better protected. This in turn
would help promote patriotism and play an important role in
developing spiritual values.
The draft regulation conforms to the law on the protection of
cultural relics. It states that the protection and refurbishment of
the Great Wall should adhere to the principle of "preserving the
original appearance". General guidelines for this decision will be
framed in the near future. The draft regulation defines the duties
of relevant local governments in protecting the Great Wall and
calls on all sections of society to ensure the task is
undertaken.?
Commercial exploitation of the Great Wall would be strictly
regulated, states the draft regulation. The meeting said the State
Council would circulate their initial draft after further
revision.
The meeting also agreed to release a draft regulation on the
National Science Fund (NSC) in order to gauge public opinion. The
draft gives details on how NSC projects would be sponsored,
supervised and managed. It also explains how to make applications
to them for funding.?
The NSC is expected to play an important role in encouraging
people to rejuvenate the country through innovation. The draft
regulation on this will be further revised to reflect any
suggestions from the public.
The Great Wall stretches for 6,700 km traversing Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei and Liaoning. Construction on it began during the
Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) when sections were built in
scattered strategic areas.
Like other sites of significant historical interest around the
world the Great Wall has been damaged by natural occurrences and
human activities. A feature carried in the April edition of
Newsweek magazine listed the Great Wall as one of seven
endangered heritage sites of the world. The article said close to
two-thirds of the structure was crumbling and stone from it had
been removed to be used for commercial purposes.
(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2006)
