UNESCO requests explanation about Thang Long Imperial Citadel

The latest dispatch from UNESCO headquarters in Paris has requested Vietnam to clarify information related to the encroachment on Thang Long Imperial Citadel that has just been raised by public opinion.

On July 25, Official Letter No. CLT/HER/WHC/APA/164 was sent by Mr. Kishore Rao, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Center, to the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, the Permanent Ambassador of Vietnam for UNESCO Affairs and the UNESCO Representative Office in Hanoi. Accordingly, this specialized agency has received information from Hanoi about the ongoing incident at the World Heritage Site that "poses a strong risk of affecting the authenticity and global value of the heritage".

The handling of flooded archaeological pits needs to be urgently carried out at Thang Long Imperial Citadel.

Referring to the responsibility of heritage management, the above document also requested the responsible agencies of Vietnam to urgently verify and provide a detailed report on this incident. This can be considered an official request from UNESCO, as since 1992, the World Heritage Center has always been the specialized agency responsible for coordinating all issues related to this title system.

Previously, also on July 25, the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO also sent a document to relevant agencies with the content of urgently reporting to the Prime Minister, at the same time promptly inspecting and remedying the incident occurring at HTTL. In particular, according to this document, it is very likely that UNESCO will soon send a team of international experts to assess and make recommendations and warnings about the HTTL case at the international meeting in July 2015. In case it happens, this is an incident that seriously affects Vietnam's reputation before UNESCO, as well as before the World Heritage Committee of which we are a member.

In theory, when receiving recommendations about the risk of not being preserved intact, the World Heritage Sites will often take a long time to both fix the situation and wait for UNESCO to review the results and withdraw this warning. Specifically, in Vietnam, the Imperial City of Hue and Ha Long Bay are two heritage sites that were included in this case in 2009 and 2011. It was not until 2013 that the Imperial City of Hue was removed from the list of recommendations by UNESCO, while Ha Long Bay has not yet done so.

Associate Professor Tong Trung Tin, President of the Vietnam Archaeological Association, said: This is clearly a worrying incident. However, it is important to understand that UNESCO's request for explanation does not mean that they will put the HTTL on the list of recommended world heritage sites next year. To some extent, the above "alarming" information can even be considered an opportunity for us to overcome the problem and draw extremely important lessons in the conservation of the HTTL, as well as other heritages.

Therefore, more than ever, I really hope that the parties involved in this incident will sit down together to discuss and urgently come up with solutions that are both urgent and long-term to preserve this heritage. That is the only thing we can do in the current context. If the problem is resolved with a serious, scientific and truly open-minded attitude, I believe UNESCO will appreciate Vietnam's efforts and goodwill and sympathize with us."

According to TT&VH