China bid to regain looted relics a tough task: experts

^{_{China bid to regain looted relics a tough task: experts}}

16.jpg (67.35 KB)
2010-11-2 10:09



China's call on museums and antique collectors around the world to return relics looted from the Old Summer Palace in Beijing 150 years ago is unlikely to yield any significant results, experts say.


The Old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, was pillaged by a joint British and French military expedition during the second Opium War in October, 1860.


The event is seen as a national humiliation at the hands of Western armies, and every anniversary of the destruction of this "wonder of the world" -- as French writer Victor Hugo described it -- gives rise to a nationalistic push.


Beijing estimates that at least 1.5 million relics were pillaged by the armies, but according to historian Bernard Brizay, author of a book on the destruction of the palace, this figure is exaggerated.


He told AFP the raid was not as clear-cut as the official version indicates, saying: "There is what was stolen from the Yuanmingyuan and there is what was sold by Beijing antique dealers."


In other words, relics stolen from the resort -- bits of porcelain, enamel, sculptures, furniture, silk paintings -- were legally sold long after the raid.


The Yuanmingyuan park authority last week called for a boycott of auctions featuring looted relics, but experts say such a plea would fall on deaf ears.


"Every month in London, Hong Kong, Paris or New York, items from the Yuanmingyuan are sold. And when people know that they come from the Yuanmingyuan, prices increase," Brizay said.


The expert added that the world's top museums would never respond to Beijing's call, noting: "Items that are in museums will never be returned to China."


Museums are "reluctant" to indicate where their collections come from, even if they sometimes have "identifiable characteristics," he added.


France last week called for a "calm study" into the "tragedy" of the Old Summer Palace, highlighting that any requests for the return of works of art should go through the UN cultural body UNESCO.


From AP