Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition
At the Asian Cultural Heritage Conservation Dialogue, the "Asian Cultural Heritage Protection Youth Ambassador Program" was also launched. Courtesy of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage
On August 28, 2017, students from Southeast University in China stopped and watched while working on a cultural heritage site in Nepal. Xinhua News Agency
The Great Wall of China, the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang of China, the historic city of Bakelhat Mosque in Bangladesh, the Albir Castle in Iraq, the Fortress of Amanbachle, the Mausoleum of Homan Ahmed Al-Asawi in Kazakhstan, the Archaeological Site of Zubala in Qatar, the Ancient City of Damascus in Syria... The Asian cultural heritage that accumulates the essence of civilization is the material carrier and empirical evidence of Asia's glorious history and splendid culture, and is the cultural wealth shared by all mankind.
As Hu Heping, Minister of Culture and Tourism of China, said at the recent Dialogue on the Protection of Asian Cultural Heritage: "It is the common responsibility of Asian countries to protect and make good use of Asian cultural heritage. ”
Cultural Heritage Conservation in Asia: From Idea to Action
Back in May 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations that "China is willing to carry out Asian cultural heritage protection actions with other countries to provide necessary support for better inheritance of civilization", which provides a new idea for comprehensively deepening cultural heritage cooperation between China and Asian countries and promoting exchanges and mutual learning among Asian civilizations.
On May 11, 2021, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China, the Ministry of Information and Culture of Afghanistan and the National Heritage and Culture Agency of Pakistan signed the Joint Statement on Coordinating the "Asian Cultural Heritage Protection Action", which is the first time that Asian countries have signed a bilateral cooperation document on the "Asian Cultural Heritage Protection Action", which is not only a new achievement of the three countries in the field of bilateral cooperation, but also marks the official transformation of the "Asian Cultural Heritage Protection Action" from concept to action, from vision to reality, which is of pioneering significance.
Also in May this year, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China and the relevant Departments of Iran signed the Joint Statement on Coordinating the "Asian Cultural Heritage Protection Action", which is the first bilateral document signed by the cultural heritage authorities of the two countries in nearly a decade, marking that the cultural heritage cooperation between the two countries has entered a new stage of development.
According to Hu Bing, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China is currently signing the Joint Statement on Coordinating the "Asian Cultural Heritage Protection Action" with Asian countries step by step, and has made pragmatic cooperation in the fields of joint archaeology, cultural heritage protection and restoration, world heritage, museum exhibition exchanges, prevention of illegal trafficking in cultural relics and personnel training, so as to inject new vitality into bilateral cultural heritage cooperation between China and relevant countries.
On October 27 and 28, the Asian Dialogue on the Protection of Cultural Heritage was held online in Beijing. During the meeting, 10 Asian countries, including China, Armenia, Cambodia, North Korea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, jointly initiated the establishment of the "Asian Cultural Heritage Protection Alliance" to establish the first international cooperation mechanism in the field of cultural heritage in Asia. At the same time, the "Asian Cultural Heritage Protection Youth Ambassadors" program was launched, the "Asian Cultural Heritage Protection Fund" was announced, and the "Initiative on Jointly Carrying Out Actions for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Asia" was issued.
"The Asian Dialogue on The Preservation of Cultural Heritage is a step towards a wonderful and legendary future for Asia. We believe that the protection of heritage in Asian countries will be enhanced and benefited in some other way. Hayata Srifatana, executive member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, said.
Asian countries: Jointly explore mechanisms for the protection of cultural heritage
Weber Endoro, Director General of the International Centre for the Protection and Restoration of Cultural Property, said that Asia is the cradle of ancient civilizations, with a rich and diverse heritage of historical towns, cultural landscapes, natural heritage, etc., which are the infinite source of creativity and inspiration for the entire human race.
"Close cooperation, exchanges and mutual learning among Asian countries are essential to protecting Asia's cultural heritage and shaping the common future of Asian civilization." Li Qun, vice minister of China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism and director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said.
Looking back on the past, Asian countries attach importance to the protection of cultural heritage and carry out a series of exchanges and cooperation. Li Qun said that the International Conservation Action for Angkor Monuments, which began in 1993, is a global model of multinational cooperation and interdisciplinary comprehensive conservation and utilization. In 1995, the International Institute for Central Asian Studies was established in Uzbekistan. In 2000, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations adopted the Declaration on Cultural Heritage in Thailand. In 2017, the six Lancang-Mekong countries issued the Kunming Initiative on Cultural Heritage Protection, Promotion, Cooperation and Exchange in the Lancang-Mekong Basin Countries. These projects are all active explorations and beneficial practices of Asian countries to jointly promote the protection of cultural heritage in Asia for a long time.
Qu Xing, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO, said that the active participation of many Asian countries in UNESCO's cultural conventions reflects the importance the region attaches to the protection of the common heritage of mankind. Among China's 56 World Heritage Sites, the "Silk Road: Road Network of the Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor" jointly declared by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan is a transnational heritage, which is the result of the joint efforts of several parties.
But at the same time, it is worth noting the challenges facing Asian cultural heritage, which have been affected by urban development, natural disasters, armed conflicts, etc., and some cultural heritage has been devastated. According to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, about 50% of the world's endangered world heritage sites are located in Asia.
According to The Syrian Minister of Culture, Lubnah Moqavid, cultural heritage belongs not only to the local people, but also to all of humanity. "We must take effective and intelligent measures to deal with the many challenges brought by natural disasters, man-made destruction and even cultural globalization to the protection and development of cultural heritage, and we should also attach importance to the publicity and recording of cultural heritage, relying on the Silk Road, to take an important step in the protection of cultural heritage of all mankind."
In this regard, relevant experts pointed out that it is timely to carry out actions to protect cultural heritage in Asia.
China: From beneficiary to active contributor
Cultural heritage cooperation with Asian countries is the highlight of China's cultural relics exchanges and cooperation with foreign countries. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China actively cooperates with Asian countries in the fields of joint archaeology, cultural relics protection and restoration, world heritage declaration and management, exhibition exchanges and other cultural heritage fields. According to the data, China and 15 Asian countries have carried out 28 joint archaeological projects to help explore the context of Asian civilization through the exploration and excavation of important sites on the Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road; China and Saudi Arabia formed a joint archaeological team to carry out joint archaeology at the site of Port Sellin on the shores of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia, confirming that ancient China had close exchanges with the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea region.
"China was once a beneficiary of international cooperation on cultural heritage, and now it has become an active contributor to cooperation in the protection and restoration of cultural heritage in Asia, and its identity has changed." Hu Bing said.
In 1998, the Chinese government implemented the first cooperation project on the restoration of historical monuments in the Angkor Monument of Zhou Sa Temple in Cambodia, and since then China has cooperated in carrying out 11 projects for the protection and restoration of historical monuments in six Asian countries, including Cambodia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Nepal, Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan. Among them, the Angkor Monument Restoration Project has been carried out to the third phase , the protection and restoration of the ruins of the royal palace, and co-chaired the International Coordination Committee of preah Vihear Temple with India. The ancient city of Khiva Restoration Project in Uzbekistan is the second large-scale participation in cultural heritage protection in neighboring countries after the Chinese government participated in the protection and restoration of the historical monuments of Angkor in Cambodia. In December 2019, the three-year China-aided historical and cultural relics restoration project in Khwarazm Prefecture in Uzbekistan passed the internal completion acceptance.
Hassan Nakhem, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Cultural Relics of Iraq, said that Since the 1990s, especially in the past 15 years, China has been known for its active theories and practices of protecting cultural heritage. The recognition of the new cultural heritage type has consolidated the theoretical foundation of China's cultural heritage protection cause, thus more clearly grasping the protection concept of authenticity and integrity of cultural heritage.