Chinese Bidder of Looted Sculptures Refuses to Pay, With Netizens’ Reactions and Photos
Last week, two bronze heads formerly located at the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) were sold at a Christie’s auction in Paris. Though the auction came under much heat, with many Chinese contending that the bronzes were stolen property, the controversy was thought to have come to a close with a final bid by anonymous telephone callers.
In the latest twist to the bronzes saga, bidder Cai Mingchao (蔡铭超), a collection advisor of National Treasure Funds of China, has come forward to state that he has no intention of paying for the bronze heads. From Xinhua:
“What I want to stress is that this money cannot be paid,” Cai said at the press conference.
An unnamed officer with NTFC said Cai successfully registered as an individual bidder on the day of the auction at Christie’s because of his good reputation. Usually, bidders are required to register several days before an auction.
“Every Chinese would have liked to do like this at that moment, and I’m honored to have the chance to make the bid,” he said.
[...]“The fund faces great pressure and risks by bidding for the two sculptures, but this is an extraordinary method taken in an extraordinary situation, which successfully stopped the auction,” Niu [deputy director to the fund] said.
Cai Mingchao (L). Photo from tiexue.net.
The bronze heads (L: rabbit, R: rat). Photo from tiexue.net.
Some comments from tiexue.net:
csertb:
Sofa [Internet slang for "first poster"]? I really thought someone had paid too much money and that it wasn’t worth it since it was originally ours!
沙发吗？我真觉得花了这么多钱，不值，这本是咱们自己的东西！
suibianak47:
He didn’t pay any money! Very smart!
他还没付钱呢，聪明！
lief:
I support this. This man’s no fool!
支持，他又不是傻瓜
李奇英:
Chinese people ought to be like this!!! Totally support!!!
是中国人都应这样的！！！支持！！！
chenxiaohui:
He should pay the penalty for this breach of contact!!!
违约金还是负得起的！！！
PzKpfw-VI:
结果法国人也被中国人结结实实的忽悠了一次，咱们组团去忽悠他们！！！
The result is that French people have been hoodwinked by Chinese! Together, we bamboozled them!!!
ljjiang:
If he didn’t pay for it, won’t it be hard to get the bronzes?
没付款东西拿到了难道 ？
夏小幽:
Of course he’s not going to get them now. But he placed a bid on them, decided not to pay, and now only has to pay a little penalty fine. This sort of thing happens a lot, so much so that it’ll cause the price of the bronze heads to inflate. And bubbles, once they overexpand, naturally burst …
当然拿不到啦，但拍下来，不付款，给点违约金罢了…这样的行为多几次，足以让兽首价格变成泡沫，泡沫嘛，撑大了了自然会爆…
大尾羊:
I felt that foreigners shouldn’t be allowed to take away things like that. Now, Chinese people have money and some of them can buy very expensive things. I support my rich countrymen who express their patriotism like this; us poor people can only use our mouths to express our patriotism.
感觉不会让外国人买走，毕竟现在中国人在世界上也算是有钱人，再贵的东西，中国也照样有人买得起。支持有钱的国人用这样的行动来爱国，我们这些穷人只能用嘴爱国了。
7种全会:
Hey, they’re still not back. We need to think of a way to bring them back.
还是没拿回来啊。得想法子拿回来。
jitui9920:
If you participated in this act, that’s tantamount to denying the legality of selling the bronzes.
But even if you participated, you have qualify your approval.
You’re not paying the for the sculptures, but you’re still paying the penalty fine.
A few million in penalty fines for this person isn’t a small thing, is it?
Doing this may have come out of a sincere heart, but I think that this action should have been accompanied by some careful forethought.
你不参与这个活动 就等于中国人不承认这个活动的合法性既然你参与了 就说明你认可了
你不付钱 但是你要付违约金
几百万违约金我相信对个人来讲也不是小事情吧
做这个事情出于好心 但是我觉得在做之前还可以再斟酌一下
Cai Mingchao, in his own words, in this news video (Chinese):
For initial reactions to the sale of the bronzes, see chinaSMACK for more.
» Read more
10 comments:
what's your feeling, if your wife
or your possession were stolen by a robber, and auction by Christie?
JACK....get a CLUE
First, the objects were removed some 140 years ago. Secondly, whatever route they took too that Auction, all the papers were in order, and a French Judge agreed....CHINA LOST THEIR BID for the items, and was TOO CHEAP to offer a FAIR MARKET PRICE before the Auction.
Do your homework...China was willing to BUY THEM, but not at Auction...they wanted to BUY THEM BACK ON THE CHEAP.
I stand by my suggestion...Christies should check with the estate, and if they are fine with it, those sculptures should be MELTED DOWN to teach CHina a serious lesson...but then hell, I would strip them of their most favored nation status for their Human Rights abuses, so what do I know?
Jack is right. I am afraid you are too consumed by your own hatred to offer a balanced view on the topic. Re-read your post and think a little.
I am BIASED....freely admit it. Also not politically correct. I think it is about time that some bitch slaps the Chinese, puts them in their place. The best people to do that are the American Consumers....we can trash the entire Chinese Economy in 180 days by simply NOT BUYING ANYTHING THAT IS MADE/PRODUCED/GROWN/BAKED in China.
Couple a REAL BOYCOTT with a refusal to ship them any rice and wheat, and they GOT PROBLEMS. Like it or not, MELTING DOWN THOSE Sculptures would BE JUST THE RIGHT MEDICINE for an arrogant Communist PRick.
Anonymous, If you want to participate here please include you name....I also suggest you think a little..The current state of our country gives us legal Americans all cause for outrage. Are you here legally Mr. Anonymous ?
"In the eyes of history, one of the two outlaws will be called France, the other will be called England. I hope there will come a day when France, liberated and cleaned up, will send back this booty to a plundered China."
-French writer Victor Hugo
Peru recently sued Yale University over thousands of Incan artifacts that were taken nearly a century ago from the mountain citadel of Machu Picchu. Italy is challenging foreign museums to prove that items in their showcases weren’t obtained from dealers working with looters, tomb robbers and shady middlemen.
...
Some countries, such as Cambodia, are barely able to halt the plunder of sites such as the ancient temple ruins of Angkor Wat. Others, such as Italy, have found success in negotiating directly with museums abroad, winning back well over 100 pieces in the past three years, including the stunning Euphronios krater, an ancient Greek terra cotta vase, that was held by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and returned early last year.
.....
Rome has made headway in other cases. In late 2008, the Cleveland Museum of Art offered to return 14 ancient treasures. And in 2007, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles agreed to return 40 pieces, including frescoes, marbles and bronzes, to Italy after a two-year dispute. In addition, the Getty agreed to adopt new acquisition policies for its collection.
.....
Colin Renfrew, an archeologist and expert on illicit antiquities at Cambridge University in England, applauded the Getty’s actions and has contrasted its approach to disputed antiquities with those of other museums, including the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He’s criticized both of those museums publicly for not returning disputed antiquities.
....
Last year, Syria returned relics to Iraq, France returned items to Burkina Faso, and Denmark repatriated relics to China. Both Italy and the Vatican returned parts of the looted Parthenon to Greece.
....
Last year, in the Ethiopian town of Axum, tens of thousands of jubilant people turned out for the unveiling of a treasured obelisk that was taken by Italian troops in 1937 but returned after lengthy negotiations between Rome and Addis Ababa.
.....
Last month, the Iraq Museum of Antiquities opened its doors for the first time since the world watched in shock as much of the collection vanished in the wake of the 2003 U.S. invasion. Iraqi officials believe most of the valuable artifacts were cleared out by expert thieves who used the chaos as cover.
---
Countries go to greater lengths to get looted treasures back
Tim Johnson and Julie Sell | McClatchy Newspapers
for more please go to
http://www.museum-security.org/?p=1623
http://www.grpressbeijing.com/english/read.php?id=2012
Exclusive Interview with Press Counsellor of Greek Embassy in China
Reading the news about auction issue in the morning, Mr. Stelios Korkidis received the interview with Beijing Evening News in his office in the afternoon. The perfect combination with Chinese style furniture and Greek paintings on the wall reflects an integration of the two civilizations. Speaking of the repatriation of stolen cultural property, M. Korkidis started from the robber and his son.
“James Bruce Elgin, 1811-1863, who ordered the plundering of Yuan Ming Yuan was in fact the son of the Lord Elgin or Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799 to 1803, who took the “Parthenon Marbles” from the Parthenon and moved them to Britain,” said Mr. korkidis.
Recalling the feeling that he saw the stolen cultural relics in British Museum, he said in a serious tone: “I was shocked and I felly pain in my heart! It was like the guest stealing treasures from the host and displayed in his own living room.”
He played a video of Parthenon to the journalist, saying that the Greek government already asked for the return of the stolen Parthenon cultural relics. The Prime Minister of Greece Kostas Karamanlis has repeatedly stated that the return of the Parthenon Marbles is a fair request of all the Greeks. Greece has taken measures to protect cultural relics since 1830. Greece has also joined the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Cultural Relics, and signed relevant cooperation agreement with Italy and several other countries. Greece got contact with Getty’s Museum in LA in 1996 to ask fort the return of four pieces of ancient Greek cultural relics. After 10-year negotiation, the two sides finally reached an agreement and the Museum returned the relics to Greece in 2007.
“The argument that the British people refused to return the Parthenon to Greek people is the same with what they used for China. It is my hope that Greece and China can work together to demand for the return of our cultural relics lost overseas.
Following the visit of the Culture Minister of Greece at that time M. Liapis to China, in February 2008, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH). According to the agreement, the parties will exchange information on smuggled goods from the two countries that appear on the international market. They will also share information related to evaluating, registering, retrieving and returning lost cultural properties when conducting investigations.
Besides, prior to the opening of the 2008 Games in Beijing the then visiting Minister of Culture of Greece M. Liapis visited China to keep working closer for the repatriation of stolen cultural heritage to its country of origin.
To conclude the interview, Mr. Korkidis said:” The two countries, sharing an equally rich and long cultural tradition, should form a “sacred alliance” and forge together a strong partnership with the aim of promoting the cause of protection of cultural relics and their return to their rightful owners, i.e. the countries of origin.”
Exclusive Interview with Egyptian Press Counsellor
In a rely email from The Egyptian Press Counsellor, he said that Egypt pays attention to the looted Chinese relics issue, and the similar situation happens in Egypt also. He supported Chinese’s demand for the return of the stolen cultural relics and he will provide assistance to Chinese if needed. He mentioned that many countries in the world have the same problem, such as China, Egypt and Greece. Those countries can promote the cooperation with each other to solve the problem in a proper way.”
Actually paying for the sculptures would equal paying RANSOM. It is not about buying them back on the CHEAP. RANSOM is ransom. RANSOM is not a FAIR MARKET PRICE.
This conversation is a typical example of Political Correctness GONE AMUCH...people, and even judges making decisions based not on law, but Political Correctness, and an unwillingness to make a decision that MIGHT OFFEND a group or nation.
WAR IS HELL, and plundering has always been part part of the costs of war. Who gives a rats ass if a Summer Palace were PLUNDERED....China has been plundering every nation on earth for a few decades now with their criminal manipulation of their currency...should we here in America decide our debt to them is NULL AND VOID?
AS to all those robbers....if China, or Eqypt or someone other country cannot CONTROL what goes on inside their own borders, shame on them.
Our government is refusing to control our border with Mexico...I can guarantee you, if I were President I would order out 50,000 troops with the right to use deadly force the second I took office...that would solve the border problem.
As for Iraq's Museum...hello, it was their OWN PEOPLE that did the looting.
I always love the RED INDIAN Arguement...based on that theory, if you go back FAR ENOUGH in history, none of us are where we are AT LEGALLY...IE, there was a recent discovery of ANCIENT WHITE EUROPEAN PEOPLE in a part of China, possibly providing some level of PROOF that it is the Chinese that have invaded parts of said land mass....maybe it is then they that need to return what is wrongfully taken...OH, and did we MENTION TIBET?
See, what I find funny is all this effort on China's Part to save two bronze sculptures when they have been FINE burying far more VALUABLE artifacts under hundreds of feet of water in the name of the world's largest DAM PROJECT...no hypocracy there now is there?
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