China has launched a new round of investigations to ascertain
the number of sites of historical interest and to put them under
better protection.
The first phase of investigations began in Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region in north China recently and the
nationwide investigation is scheduled to be completed in 2009.
Hou Shizhu, head of China's Third Cultural Heritage
Investigation Team, said, "The investigation is an important step
towards securing the country's cultural safety."
Chinese archaeologists will use modern technologies such as GPS,
aerial photography, remote sensing, digital cameras and computers
to survey unmovable sites of historical interest across the
country, especially those scattered in the wild.
Data collected from the investigation will be used as the basis
for the State Council to establish a national cultural heritage
protection system by 2010.
China carried out two cultural heritage investigations in the
1950s and 1980s respectively. However, robbery of ancient tombs and
historical sites and smuggling of relics have been frequently
reported over the past 20 years, seriously damaging cultural relics
across the country.
According to the results of the second investigation, China has
more than 400,000 unmovable historical sites, one third of which
are now missing, and many of the cultural relics were smuggled to
overseas, Hou said.
"To establish a new line of defense for China's cultural relics
has become imperative," Hou said.
Different from the previous investigations which just focus on
the number of historical sites, the current move will also feature
scientific research and excavations, which are likely to be made
with the approval of relevant state departments.
Archaeologists hope that more volunteers will join in the
investigation work and will provide more clues to sites of
historical relics.
China passed a National Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics
in 1982, establishing a system of conserving its cultural heritage.
The core content of the law is the protection of cultural
relics.
The government issued a notice calling on enhanced protection of
cultural heritage across the country at the end of last year. The
second Saturday of June has been designated as "China's Cultural
Heritage Day" starting from this year.
(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2006)
