French court rules against auction suspension

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Liu Yang represents the group of 80 Chinese lawyers that filed the case. Despite the ruling, he says they've achieved a moral victory.

Liu Yang, Chinese lawer, said, "Because in Paris, in the court room, Chinese people have voiced their feeling of injustice. We want it to be known how these cultural objects were brought overseas."

Despite its massive effort, Liu acknowledged that the group should have been better prepared for the case.

A legal representative for Christie's said the auction will go ahead as planned.

Martin Wilson, Legal Rep. of Christie's London, said, "We do respect the principle of repatriation of objects to the countries of origin and we believe that the auction process is a legitimate means of which that can be achieved."

The Association for the Protection of Chinese Art in Europe has also been working hard to prevent the auction. And now the judge has ordered it to pay 1-thousand euros in fines each to the Christie's and to the firm of Pierre Berge, the longtime partner of the French fashion icon.