Ministry: China to seek return of looted relics through "all necessary means"

Liu Yuzhu, director of the Cultural

Industry Department under Chinese Ministry of Culture, answers questions

during a group interview on "Cultural Market and Development of Cultural

Industry" held by the Second Session of the 11th National People's

Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 12, 2009. Some leading

officials from Chinese Ministry of Culture attended the interview on

Thursday. (Chinese media/Yang Zongyou)
Photo

Gallery

BEIJING, March 12 (Chinese media) -- China's Ministry of

Culture said Thursday the country would resort to "all necessary means" to seek

the return of two looted Chinese relics auctioned at Christie's in Paris.

"China will never consent to illegal possession of

stolen cultural relics," Ouyang Jian, Deputy Culture Minister, said on the

sidelines of the country's legislative session.

It is the latest comment from Chinese officials in

protest against Christie's auction of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) bronze rabbit

and rat heads sculptures, which were looted from Yuanmingyuan, the Old Summer

Palace, by Anglo-French allied forces during the Second Opium War in 1860.

Ou'yang Jian, China's vice minister of

Culture, answers questions during a group interview on "Cultural Market

and Development of Cultural Industry" held by the Second Session of the

11th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March

12, 2009. Some leading officials from Chinese Ministry of Culture attended

the interview on Thursday. (Chinese media/Yang Zongyou)
Photo Gallery

"The auction has violated international conventions,

and has hurt the cultural rights and interests and the national sentiment of the

Chinese people," Ouyang said.

Such act could also have a strong impact on the

development of Christie's in China, he added.

China had tried repeatedly to dissuade Christie's

from auctioning, but the efforts failed.

The two bronze heads were auctioned for 14 million

euros (17.92million U.S. dollars) each two weeks ago. Cai Mingchao, a Chinese

antiques collector, identified himself later as the winning bidder, but said at

a press conference that he would not pay the money.

Some leading officials of Chinese

Ministry of Culture attend a group interview on "Cultural Market and

Development of Cultural Industry" held by the Second Session of the 11th

National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 12,

2009. (Chinese media/Yang Zongyou)
Photo Gallery

The auction triggered wide protest in China. But

Christie's argued that the Pierre Berge-Yves Saint Laurent Foundation held legal

ownership of the fountainheads.

"We will never stop questioning the legitimacy of

such possession, and will seek the return of the sculptures by all necessary

means in accord with related international conventions and Chinese laws," said

Ouyang.

He again denied government involvement in the bidding

for the two Yuanmingyuan relics, saying Cai had acted on his own.

So far, five of the 12 bronze animal fountain heads

in Yuanmingyuan have returned home, but the whereabouts of five others are

unknown.