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UNESCO Says China Successful in Balancing Economy & Culture
Matsuura Koichiro, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today appreciated China's efforts in preserving cultural heritage while developing the economy, saying "China is a successful case in doing both things".
The 63-year-old diplomat from Japan expressed sincere gladness over the visit, the first since he assumed the office last November.
He said China is an important member of UNESCO, and his current visit is to discuss further China-UNESCO cooperation with Chinese officials and hold talks on several cooperative projects.
"UNESCO's cooperation with China in the cultural, educational, and scientific sectors has been progressing steadily and I'm quite satisfied with such a cooperative relationship," he said.
On the question of economic globalization and cultural preservation, Koichiro said the controversy between economic development and cultural heritage preservation reasonably and theoretically exists, however, it is not an issue that can not be surmounted.
All the developing countries, while giving priority to economic development, should make serious efforts to preserve cultural heritage, and never should they sacrifice the cultural heritage for economic benefits only. Otherwise, they would eventually regret, he said.
China, while achieving a rapid economic growth in recent years, has paid great importance to the preservation of its rich cultural heritage, he said. So far, some 23 Chinese cultural sites have been listed by UNESCO as world cultural heritage, and 61 more have been submitted for application.
As a director-general from Asia, he thinks that Asian countries, faced with economic globalization, should maintain their own cultural identity in order to continue their cultural influence on the world stage. This applies not just to Asian countries, but to all countries across the world as well, he said, adding that's why UNESCO has always been advocating cultural identity and diversity all over the world.
Under UNESCO's proposal, the year 2000 was designated by the United Nations as International Year for the Culture of Peace. The concept of "Culture of Peace" originates from the fact that conflicts and wars still exist even after the Cold War and UNESCO takes promoting world peace through cultural, educational and scientific cooperation among world countries as its major responsibility.
UNESCO will, by cooperating with all countries worldwide, continue advocating this concept in the future, he added.
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