Chinese state media has called on the British Museum to return all Chinese cultural relics “free of charge” after the recent alleged theft of around 2,000 items.
In the article published on Sunday (27 August), Global Times – a state-run nationalist newspaper – said: “As a Chinese media, we formally request the British Museum to return all Chinese cultural relics acquired through improper channels to China free of charge, and to refrain from adopting a resistant, protracted and perfunctory attitude.”
The editorial continued, “First of all, a public commitment should be made to the world for the return of the relics and this long overdue work should begin as soon as possible.
“We also support the claims for the restitution of cultural relics made by other countries that have been looted by Britain, such as India, Nigeria and South Africa.”
It added, “The huge loopholes in the management and security of cultural objects in the British Museum exposed by this scandal have led to the collapse of a long-standing and widely circulated claim that ‘foreign cultural objects are better protected in the British Museum’.”
Following reports that artefacts had been stolen from the British Museum, officials in Greece and Nigeria have called for the return of the Parthenon marbles and Benin bronzes.
British Museum home to 23,000 Chinese objects
Commenting on the thefts in the Art Newspaper, Dan Hicks, curator at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, said “the last remaining argument against restitution has been lost”.
The British Museum has about 23,000 Chinese objects. After the Global Times editorial was published, the repatriation demand became the most trending topic on Weibo. The Chinese government has not commented on the issue yet.
In response to the thefts, the British Museum sacked a member of staff and began an independent review of security. The Met Police’s Economic Crime Command is investigating. Hartwig Fischer, the British Museum’s director, has resigned with immediate effect.
Images courtesy of the British Museum
