Construction of a ‘road’ through the Great Wall of China, detention 2

State broadcaster CCTV said the two were detained for using excavators to dig holes in the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall is the remains of a massive structure built by Chinese emperors to ward off invaders.

Police in Shaanxi province arrested them following the tracks of machinery used to dig a short road through a section of the wall. A 38-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman were working near the 32nd Great Wall in the affected area.

The suspects admitted under interrogation that they used excavators to build a short road through the wall to reduce local travel time, state media reported.

Earlier on August 24, officials were alerted to the damage after receiving complaints that there was a huge gap in the wall. According to CCTV, ‘two suspects have now been arrested in accordance with the law and investigations are ongoing.’

Since 1987, UNESCO has recognized the Great Wall of China as a World Heritage Site.

The construction of the Great Wall is divided into sections with a total stretch of thousands of kilometers. It first started in the 3rd century BC and lasted for several centuries. The damaged section of the Great Wall, located about six hours west of central Beijing, dates back to China’s Ming Dynasty from the 14th to 17th centuries.