Source: CCTV.com

02-28-2009 10:09

The two Chinese relics were bought by anonymous telephone bidders. But while these relics have garnered world wide attention, they are just one of many missing pieces. UNESCO statistics show there are at least 17 million lost Chinese relics.

UNESCO statistics show there are at least 17 million lost Chinese relics.

French writer Victor Hugo condemned the action of the British and the French in an open letter: "One day two robbers broke into Yuanmingyuan. One pillaged, while the other set fire to it. The two robbers' names are France and England."

Historic relics are supposed to be protected under the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property and the 1995 Unidroit Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects. But the conventions lack an effective control mechanism. Countries like Britain, France, and the United States have not adhered to the conventions.

In 2002, the British Museum, the Louvre Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York joined with 16 other western museums to refuse to return looted relics, especially the ancient ones. They said the original countries that the relics belonged to didn't have the power to protect the historic pieces either financially or in the area of technical expertise. They also said that the relics belong to all people and should be shared by the world.

Such explanations are opposed by China, Egypt, India, Iraq, Libya, Syria and many other countries. It's hoped that those countries who cannot change the past, can at least now take the opportunity to correct the mistakes of their predecessors.

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Editor:Liu Fang