China enhances protection of martyrs' memorials

The Ministry of Civil Affairs on Thursday issued a series of measures to enhance protection of memorial facilities built to honor martyrs from the threats of development projects and other unauthorized uses.

According to the measures, the memorials can be relocated only after their supervising governments approve the relocation and superior governments add the relocation plans to their records.

Under a classification management system, each memorial will be put under the protection and supervision of a government at the state, provincial, city or county level.

"Previous regulations have lagged far behind what is required to protect the memorials and improvements are urgently needed to further regulate their protection and boost their educational functions," said a statement accompanying the release of the measures.

The rules stipulate that no unit or individual is allowed to occupy memorial land or facilities for construction projects or the storage of human remains.

According to the measures, memorial protection units should research and compile documents related to martyrs, organize memorial activities and equip the memorials with high-quality guides.

Released one day after authorities called for efforts to honor martyrs in order to promote their patriotic spirit, the measures also set down criteria for declaring state-level memorials and spell out legal responsibilities for memorial protection units.

Ministry figures show that China has 25,000 memorial facilities and 4,151 martyr memorial protection units across the country. More than 1.4 million martyrs are buried in memorial cemeteries nationwide.

Also on Thursday, Minister Li Liguo stressed the need to repair and protect small-scale martyrs' memorials.

The ministry plans to grant about 10 billion yuan (1.63 billion U.S. dollars) to complete the protection of 615,000 martyrs' graves and 12,000 small memorial facilities scattered throughout the nation between 2011 and 2014.

According to Li, 66 percent of these graves and 44 percent of the scattered facilities had been restored as of the first quarter of this year.

However, Li noted that some provincial-level regions were not very active in the four-year protection campaign, and 8 percent of the martyrs' memorial facilities and graves at or above the county level are in a comparatively grim state of preservation.

Li urged incorporating the repair and protection expenses of memorials at or above the county level into the local government budgets and called for scientific planning and meticulous implementations to ensure timely and effective protection of martyr memorials.