China played a “pioneering role” in rebuilding Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral following its burning down in 2019, the Communist country’s state-owned media has claimed.
Beijing-based outlet the Global Times on December 10 insisted the nation played a leading role in the project, describing China as being “the first country to participate in the restoration”.
“Following the catastrophic fire on April 15, 2019, China was the first country to sign an intergovernmental agreement with France for the restoration of the cathedral, enabling Chinese experts to contribute to the restoration project,” the publication wrote.
The news outlet — an offshoot of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) official People’s Daily newspaper — focused on the involvement of Chinese experts skilled in working with damaged and burnt wooden relics. That was, it said, thanks to their time excavating the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, famous internationally for housing the terracotta army.
“Inspired by China’s techniques used in the preservation of fire-damaged wooden structures like those at the Terracotta Warriors site, France has sought advice on stabilizing and showcasing damaged components as cultural artifacts,” the Global Times cited China Academy of Cultural Heritage expert Chen Jiachang as saying.
Zhou Ping, a deputy director of the Chinese museum, is reported as saying that Chinese craftsmen were the “first non-French professional team to ascend the spire of Notre-Dame” upon the building’s reopening.
Contrasting the CCP’s reporting, outlets in the West have barely mentioned the contributions of Beijing to the project, instead attributing France’s ability to rebuild the cathedral within five years to the influx of support from private citizens.
One of the most mentioned groups involved in the reconstruction efforts was Carpenters without Borders, a multinational alliance of tradesmen from across the world, who helped reconstruct the religious building using the same methods as the original craftsmen some 800 years previously.
The challenge was made even more difficult by the requirement that the cathedral be rebuilt to the exact same standards. “As carpenters here, we’ve had to do things here that the original carpenters never did,” Carpenters without Borders volunteer Hank Silver had told NBC News earlier this year.
“We’ve had to recreate all these inconsistencies, all these deformations that have accrued over the centuries.”
Silver added that the work had changed his life and that he would be “dining out” on the fact his craftsmanship was now part of the UNESCO world heritage site.
Eight days before the reopening of Notre Dame de Paris to the public, French President Emmanuel Macron has visited the restored cathedral. https://t.co/ISWVA1qMoM
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 29, 2024
