Society

2 detained over damage of Great Wall

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-12-10 22:04

HOHHOT: Two people have been detained for damaging the section of the Great Wall in Hohhot City, capital of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, local police said Thursday.

The two men surnamed Zhang and Tian were detained by Hohhot police on December 5. They were project managers of Hohhot Kekao Mining Co. whose gold prospecting team allegedly drilled two holes through the Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.) Great Wall, according to a statement of the municipal police.

The holes, covering a total area of 300 square meters and five meters deep, were dug through the Great Wall on the Daqing Mountain to the north of Hohhot.

Regional and municipal police formed a special investigation team after the vandalism was reported on October 27, the statement said.

Damaging the state key cultural relic site is punishable by a fine of up to 500,000 yuan or a jail term of up to 10 years, according to Chinese law.

Five miners received jail terms ranging from one to three years in Inner Mongolia last year for damaging a section of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Great Wall, using heavy machinery. To date, they are the only people to be jailed for damaging the Great Wall.

Construction of the Great Wall was begun by China's first emperor Qinshihuang (259-210 B.C.) to prevent incursions by northern tribes. It was strengthened by later emperors and extended from 8,852 km to comprise several different walls with a total length of 50,000 km.

One-third of the Great Wall has been destroyed by centuries of erosion, a situation that has been exacerbated by continuing vandalism, Wang Dafang, director of the region's cultural relics department, said in an interview in November.

Miners, road construction workers and villagers collecting building materials have contributed to the ongoing destruction along the 15,000-km section of the Great Wall in Inner Mongolia, and the great length made it difficult to stop them, Wang said.