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Sites off heritage 'endangered' list
By Xin Dingding (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-07-05 09:33
SUZHOU: Two sites were removed from the Endangered World Heritage List
Sunday, insiders said.
The 28th Session of the World Heritage Committee evaluated the status of 35
endangered sites, deciding to remove Angkor of Cambodia and Barla Fort of Oman
from the "in danger" list after more than a decade of renovation efforts.
China assisted in the protection of Angkor by taking on the renovation work
project of Chao Say Thevoda of Angkor Wat, that was initiated by UNESCO at the
invitation of the Cambodian Government.
The evaluation on 121 heritage sites started Sunday evening, officials
said.
The status of five sites in China will be discussed on Monday.
They included the Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties in Beijing,
the Classical Gardens of Suzhou in East China's Jiangsu Province, the Potala
Palace in Lhasa of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the ancient building complex in
the Wudang Mountains in Hubei Province, and the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan
Protected Areas in Yunnan Province, according to a report in the Shanghai-based
Jiefang Daily.
Jiang Renjie, the vice-mayor of Suzhou, told China Daily the World Heritage
Committee is concerned about the heritage in Suzhou because of the new Suzhou
Museum's location.
The city has planned to build a new museum near Zhuozheng Garden, one of the
finest classical gardens of the city. But experts worry that the construction
project is too close to the garden and might influence the site's protection.
"The World Heritage Committee sent an expert to examine the location in May
and June, who believed it will be no problem for site's protection, and that
Ieoh Ming Pei is a good choice for the designer,"Jiang said.
Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, a site in Southeast China
inscribed just last year, is a concern for the committee because of plans to
build 13 hydro-power stations.
One of the stations is said to be destined for a protected area, while the
rest are not far from the site.
Ma Suhong, a senior official with Yunnan Provincial World Heritage Management
Commission, told China Daily the plan has not been approved by the State Council
yet, so the stations may not be built.
"But the government promises to be prudent when making decisions on the
matter," Ma said.
"And we will first listen to opinions of the World Heritage Committee before
making any moves on the plan," he said.
In another development, the World Heritage Committee is processing the
applications of five Chinese cultural heritage sites to be inscribed on the
World Heritage List, a senior Chinese cultural heritage official told Xinhua
News Agency.
They were likely to enter the list in several years, said Shan Jixiang,
director of China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
The five sites are the historical monuments of Macao, the Diaolou buildings
in Kaiping of South China's Guangdong Province, the Yin Ruins in Central China's
Henan Province, the Tulou buildings in East China's Fujian Province and the
terraced fields of the Hani ethnic group in Southwest China's Yunnan Province.
Both the Diaolou and the Tulou are unusual residential buildings in South China.
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