by Nina Achmatova

The Coordination Council of Russian Compatriots in the People's Republic has prepared a program which identifies seven objects of historical and artistic significance; these include churches and a cross on the site where a battle was fought in the Russo-Japanese War.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The Coordination Council of Russian Compatriots in the PRC is proposing a restoration project of historical sites and monuments linked to the Russian community in Northeast China. The Council outlined its proposal during its ninth meeting, held on May 27.

"The document is a list of seven sites, located in the Chinese city of Harbin, Shenyang and Dalian," reports the news agency Tass, speaking to one of the Council members, Sergey Eremin. Eremin points out that currently  in Harbin restoration work is underway on the only active church, the Orthodox Church of the Intercession, and that of St. Iver. There is a plan to transform the last Russian cemetery  in Huangshan into a memorial.

"In Shenyang, local authorities intend to transfer the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and to restore the building – says Eremin - however, there are fears that in the course of this transfer decorations and paintings can be damaged. This is why we want to seek the help of Russian diplomats and the Chinese side to bring specialists from Russia to the city". Moreover, the Council member says there is a plan to rebuild the Cross of Adoration in Shenyang, where in 1904 a hard battle was fought as part of the Russo-Japanese War.

"As for Dalian – continues Eremin - there is the planned reconstruction of the civil-military cemetery, which is on the main Tsinyuntsze road, and also the church of Saint Michael Archangel, which was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution."

The program of restoration of the Russian presence in the Northeast of China, according to its promoters, will help the local Russian community to "act in a more systematic and coherent way", asking for support from authorities of the Russian Federation, the Russian abroad and focusing on archive work.

The meeting of the Coordination Council of Russian Compatriots in China was organized by the Federal Rossotrudnichestvo agency, the Russian Embassy in the People's Republic, the Consulate General in Shenyang and the Russian culture center in Beijing.

The presence of the Russians in North-East China is often linked to the Orthodox Church, which in recent years has launched an active cooperation with the local authorities, part of a broader alliance between Moscow and Beijing, revived after cooling of relations between the Kremlin with the EU and the US because of the Ukrainian crisis.

While the Patriarchate is still seeking recognition of Orthodox Christianity among China’s "official" religions (which are: Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Protestant Christianity and Catholicism), the People's Republic has recently authorized, for the first time in 60 years,  the ordination of Chinese Orthodox priests.

• china
• russia
• historical
• sites
• war
• restoration
• ties