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China Criticizes the Auction of Looted Sculptures
China has criticized the sale of two looted bronze sculptures at Christie's.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said on Tuesday that it broke international conventions and seriously hurt the cultural rights and interests of the Chinese people as well as their national sentiment.
China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage has also voiced its strong opposition with Christie's and demanded that the auction be stopped.
The two bronze sculptures, the head of a rabbit and another of a rat, were stolen when the Old Summer Palace was burnt down by Anglo-French allied forces during the Second Opium War in 1860.
A team of 81 Chinese lawyers wrote to Christie's auction house in an effort to stop the sale and also attempted to get a French court to halt the sale, but on Monday the court ruled against the bid.
Chinese lawyers say they will continue efforts to bring the national relics back home.
Liu Yang, the leader of the Chinese lawyers, says the result came as no surprise.
"Although we did not receive a fair judgment, it was a small victory because others now know what happened."
Liu Yang says with all the warnings and the campaign, they hope the auction of the two bronze heads will not proceed.
"We'll see on Wednesday if the auction will be aborted. If not, we'll continue our efforts. To be specific, we'll trace the buyers and file a new lawsuit against them. Because they have violated the rights of the Chinese people if they insist on buying the bronze animal heads despite the consequences that we have made very clear. The buyers will be added to the list of the accused."
Christie's is to stage the auction Wednesday. The two items are expected to fetch between 16 and 20 million Euros.
