In recent years, it has become a trend for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to apply for “World Cultural Heritage” status. Recently, the “Beijing Central Axis” successfully applied for inscription on the World Heritage List, which includes locations like the Mao Zedong Mausoleum that are not ancient ruins, sparking controversy.
On July 27th, at the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO held in New Delhi, India, a resolution was passed to include the “Beijing Central Axis” on the World Heritage List.
With this, the total number of World Heritage applications by the CCP worldwide has reached 59.
The “Beijing Central Axis” was established in the 13th century and took shape in the 16th century. It is known as the backbone of Beijing, running through the north and south of the old city, spanning from Yongding Gate in the south to Bell and Drum Towers in the north, with a total length of 7.8 kilometers. It is the longest and best-preserved ancient city axis in the world, consisting of five categories of relics including ancient royal palaces, ancient royal sacrificial buildings, and ancient urban management facilities.
The selection, layout, urban form, and design of the “Beijing Central Axis” embody the ideal urban pattern described in the “Zhou Li · Kao Gong Ji,” showcasing China’s ancient imperial system and urban planning traditions, witnessing the development and evolution of Beijing.
The 15 sites successfully inscribed for the “Beijing Central Axis” include: Bell and Drum Towers, Wanping Bridge, Jingshan, the Forbidden City, Duanmen, Tiananmen, Waijinshui Bridge, the Temple of Earth, the Altar of Land and Grain, Tiananmen Square and architectural complex (Tiananmen Square, Mao Zedong Mausoleum, Great Hall of the People), the Temple of Heaven, the Altar of Agriculture, Yongding Gate, covering an area of 589 hectares for the heritage zone and 4542 hectares for the buffer zone.
Among them, sites like the “Monument to the People’s Heroes” and the “Mao Zedong Mausoleum” that are not ancient ruins have also been included in the list of World Cultural Heritage, stirring controversy.
On social media platforms, some netizens criticized by saying: “Mao was a destroyer of Chinese culture during the Cultural Revolution, destroying countless cultural relics and monuments. Including Mao Zedong Mausoleum in the World Cultural Heritage list is an international joke.” “Rename the Mao Mausoleum to ‘Exhibition Hall of the Ten Years of Catastrophe’, and the Monument to the People’s Heroes to ‘Monument to Massacre Victims,’ then it will truly reflect the reality.” “Mao Zedong should be condemned, his tombstone should be uprooted, and Marxists must be eradicated before being included in the World Cultural Heritage to be credible.”
As early as June 2012, when the Mao Zedong Mausoleum was included in the list of buildings for the “Beijing Central Axis” preparing to apply for UNESCO Cultural Heritage, it already sparked controversy.
At the time, Beijing dissident Li Jincheng told NTD that Mao Zedong’s atrocities led to the abnormal deaths of more than eighty million people in various political movements, a history that the Communist Party has distorted and covered up. If its mausoleum could apply for World Cultural Heritage status, there would be no fairness and justice in the world.
Mainland internet writer Jing Chu also stated that Mao Zedong can be said to be a hundred times more terrifying than Hitler as a mass murderer. Inserting him into history and presenting it to the world is a global joke, a profanity against humanity.
Six years after the “Beijing Central Axis” applied for World Heritage status, there is still no news. In 2018, the news of the “Beijing Central Axis” application resurfaced in the official media of the CCP.
At that time, commentator Yan Dan wrote, “By forcefully including the Mao Zedong Mausoleum and other non-ancient sites in the ‘Central Axis’ for World Heritage application, there are hidden malicious intentions. Taking the Forbidden City on the ‘Central Axis’ as an example, it has long been a cultural heritage site. Initially applying for World Heritage did not use the name ‘Central Axis,’ relying solely on its own value, it ranked sixth among all heritage sites in China.”
“If the CCP truly believes that the Mao Zedong Mausoleum and the Monument to the People’s Heroes have equal value, why not openly and squarely apply for their inscription separately, instead of sneakily hiding them among other cultural relics for application, attempting to deceive the public?”
Yan Dan pointed out that these two places, witnessing the so-called “heritage” of the CCP’s massive massacres of the Chinese people, once listed in the World Cultural Heritage registry, would be a great disgrace.
The article suggests that the most ironic is the “Mao Zedong Mausoleum.” Mao’s hostility and hatred towards 5,000 years of Chinese traditional culture and historical relics are unfathomable, even numerous movements of violence and destruction couldn’t satisfy it. Can a dungeon containing such hatred for tradition, relics, and monuments be rated as “cultural heritage”?