Current:Home > StocksChina authorities arrest 2 for smashing shortcut through Great Wall with excavator-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
China authorities arrest 2 for smashing shortcut through Great Wall with excavator
View Date:2024-12-24 00:49:25
China’s Great Wall has been pierced by Genghis Khan, the Manchus, and now, allegedly, a couple of construction workers named Zheng and Wang who wanted a shortcut.
Authorities in China arrested two people for smashing a path through a section of the ancient wall, a cultural icon and United Nations protected heritage site.
The area of the breach was a broken-down section far from the restored segments most Chinese and foreign tourists are familiar with.
The government of Youyu County, hundreds of kilometers (miles) west of Beijing showed a dirt road cut through a section of the wall against a rural landscape, along with the two suspects, identified as a 38-year-old man surnamed Zheng and a 55-year-old woman surnamed Wang.
The pair wanted a shorter route for some construction work they were doing in nearby towns, the government report said.
The section lies in Shanxi province at the western extreme of the wall, parts of which was constructed 2,000 years ago. It’s relatively well preserved and holds “important preservation and research value,” the local government said.
China places immense pride in the system of towers and connecting walls wide enough for carriages to pass that stretch approximately 8,850 kilometers (5,500 miles), built mainly during the Ming dynasty that lasted until 1644.
In that year, Manchu tribespeople from the north overcame China’s defenses and took over the empire as the Qing dynasty.
The wall was subsequently abandoned and plundered for bricks and stones by local villagers, only to be revived by the Communist government as a symbol of patriotism, mass mobilization and resistance to outside pressure.
The Youyu County government said the arrests were made after a report of the breach was received on August 24. It said the two suspects were in custody with further legal action pending.
In its citation of the the Great Wall, UNESCO described it as reflecting the “collision and exchanges between agricultural civilizations and nomadic civilizations in ancient China.”
“It provides significant physical evidence of the far-sighted political strategic thinking and mighty military and national defence forces of central empires in ancient China, and is an outstanding example of the superb military architecture, technology and art of ancient China,” the citation says.
veryGood! (33257)
Related
- To Protect the Ozone Layer and Slow Global Warming, Fertilizers Must Be Deployed More Efficiently, UN Says
- This is the first image of the black hole at the heart of the Milky Way
- A digital conflict between Russia and Ukraine rages on behind the scenes of war
- Adam Brody Would Do a Revival of The O.C. Under One Condition
- Wreck of Navy destroyer USS Edsall known as 'the dancing mouse' found 80 years after sinking
- Woman found dead after suspected grizzly bear attack near Yellowstone National Park
- U.S. resumes deportation flights to Cuba after 2-year pause
- Does Bitcoin have a grip on the economy?
- Travis Kelce's and Patrick Mahomes' Kansas City Houses Burglarized
- Why Taylor Swift's Red Lipstick Era Almost Didn't Happen
Ranking
- Satire publication The Onion buys Alex Jones’ Infowars at auction with help from Sandy Hook families
- Kenya starvation cult death toll hits 90 as morgues fill up: Nothing prepares you for shallow mass graves of children
- A firm proposes using Taser-armed drones to stop school shootings
- Woman found dead after suspected grizzly bear attack near Yellowstone National Park
- 'Yellowstone' premiere: Record ratings, Rip's ride and Billy Klapper's tribute
- Family Feud Contestant Arrested and Charged With Murdering Estranged Wife
- U.S. takes new steps to reduce migrant arrivals when Title 42 border rule ends in May
- Sperm donor father of at least 550 kids banned from donating any more sperm
Recommendation
-
'The Penguin' spoilers! Colin Farrell spills on that 'dark' finale episode
-
A Mariupol native has created a site for residents to find missing loved ones
-
A Russian court bans Facebook and Instagram as extremist
-
U.S. doctor Bushra Ibnauf Sulieman killed for nothing amid fighting in Sudan
-
How Ben Affleck Really Feels About His and Jennifer Lopez’s Movie Gigli Today
-
Russia hits Ukraine with deadly missile salvo, killing 23
-
The Sweet Way Chrissy Teigen and John Legend’s Daughter Luna Is Taking Care of Baby Sister Esti
-
Fast, the easy checkout startup, shuts down after burning through investors' money