Workers rebuilding TV tower

BEIJING - WORKERS on Wednesday started to rebuild a tower in China's new state television complex in Beijing, 18 months after the building was gutted by fire, state media said. Much of the north tower of the new CCTV headquarters will be stripped of everything but its main structure, which was not seriously damaged in the deadly blaze, and rebuilt, Beijing News said, citing the developer. The decision to renovate the gutted structure followed much speculation on the fate of the building, which was to house a luxury hotel but which caught fire during an illegal Lunar New Year fireworks display in February 2009. The 159-metre-tall hotel was just 200 metres from the futuristic CCTV tower that had quickly won fame as one of Beijing's most stunning buildings and a striking symbol of China's newfound global power. Both buildings were designed by renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and had been due to open last year. In a public relations disaster for CCTV, which is one of the Communist Party's chief propaganda arms, authorities said the station had defied police warnings and set off powerful fireworks in the complex.

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