Yahoo News Fact Check: Yes, 2 People Dug This 'Shortcut' Through Great Wall of China
Claim:
In 2023, two people used an excavator to clear a path through the Great Wall of China.
Rating:
In 2023, images of severe damage to the Great Wall of China went viral on both Reddit and TikTok. Multiple media outlets, including CNN, NBC, the BBC, Smithsonian Magazine, and Vice also reported that two people used an excavator to create a path through the more than 13,000 mile-long relic of the Ming Dynasty.
One Reddit post gained more than 65,000 upvotes. "Be nice AI is still a baby," one of the top comments read.
In the Shanxi region of China, two people drilled a hole in the Great Wall of China "to make a shortcut".
byu/esberat inDamnthatsinteresting
However, we looked into the claim and found that the images were authentic, meaning they were not AI-generated or otherwise digitally altered. The photos originated from the official police report posted to Chinese social media platform Weixin – also known as WeChat.
The police report, posted the Youyu County Public Security Bureau, confirmed that two suspects – a 38-year-old male and a 55-year-old female) – used an excavator to create a shortcut through the Great Wall, "causing irreversible damage to the integrity of the Ming Great Wall and the safety of cultural relics."
According to Google Translate, the full report was as follows:
The Thirty-two Great Walls in Youyu County is a section of the Ming Great Wall. It is named after the 32nd beacon tower where the Ming Great Wall enters Youyu. The existing border walls and beacon towers are relatively intact. It is a provincial cultural relic protection unit and is well-known for its majestic and vast ancient frontier style. It has important protection and research value. However, part of the Great Wall has been severely damaged in recent days.
August 24At around 4:20 p.m., the command center of the county public security bureau received a report that a gap had been dug in the Thirty-Two Great Walls in Yangqianhe Township. After receiving the alarm, the Criminal Investigation Brigade rushed to the scene. After checking the traces on the scene, the police initially determined that the ancient Great Wall was damaged by excavation by large machinery. Subsequently, the police patrolled and tracked the area and found an excavator and a man and a woman in the neighboring county of Horqin. After questioning on the scene, it was found that the ancient Great Wall was destroyed by the two people. The police summoned the two people back to the county public security bureau for further investigation.
Upon investigation, it was found that the suspects Zheng (male, 38 years old, from Hohhot, Inner Mongolia) and Wang (female, 55 years old, from Hohhot, Inner Mongolia) used an excavator to dig a large gap in the original gap of the ancient Great Wall to save distance during construction near the Thirty-two Great Walls, so that the excavator could pass through the gap, causing irreversible damage to the integrity of the Ming Great Wall and the safety of cultural relics. At present, the two suspects have been criminally detained according to law and the case is under further investigation.
The report included both pictures included on the viral Reddit post, and an additional photo of the police officers standing on either side of the two suspects; the police blurred their faces to protect their identity.
(Youyu County Public Security Bureau)
State-owned news outlet China Daily reported that the police charged the two with destroying a cultural relic.
In sum, because the Youyu County Public Security Bureau posted the viral photos, confirmed the details of the damaged section of the Great Wall, and charged two people with the damage, we rate this claim "True."
Sources:
China's Great Wall Damaged by Workers Looking for Shortcut. 5 Sept. 2023. www.bbc.com, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-66714547.
Gan, Mengchen Zhang, Nectar. 'Two People Detained in China for Allegedly Damaging Great Wall with Excavator'. CNN, 4 Sept. 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/04/china/china-great-wall-damage-excavator-intl/index.html.
Great Wall of China | Definition, History, Length, Map, Location, & Facts | Britannica. 27 Aug. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Great-Wall-of-China.
'Great Wall of China "Irreversibly" Damaged by People Looking for Shortcut'. VICE, 5 Sept. 2023, https://www.vice.com/en/article/great-wall-of-china-damaged-by-people-looking-for-shortcut/.
Magazine, Smithsonian, and Sarah Kuta. 'Construction Workers Plow a Shortcut Through the Great Wall of China'. Smithsonian Magazine, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/construction-workers-cause-irreversible-damage-to-great-wall-of-china-180982876/. Accessed 27 Aug. 2024.
TikTok - Make Your Day. https://www.tiktok.com/@abcnewsaus/video/7275566210459241735?_r=1&_t=8pDw8KCYAiV. Accessed 27 Aug. 2024.
- YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2N_NDyMYlw. Accessed 27 Aug. 2024.
办公室. '【夏季行动】三十二明长城被人挖出缺口 右玉刑侦当天破案'. Weixin Official Accounts Platform, https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/PNWdmbZXS7esmGQiUZqurw. Accessed 27 Aug. 2024.
王晗. Excavator Used to Damage Section of Great Wall, Two People Detained. https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202309/04/WS64f5a6aca310d2dce4bb3d00.html. Accessed 27 Aug. 2024.
