Chinese gov´t writes to Christie´s seeking to stop auction

The heads were among 12 animal head sculptures that formed the zodiacal clepsydra decorating the Calm Sea Pavilion in the Old Summer Palace of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795) in Beijing.

They were looted when the palace was burned down by Anglo-French allied forces during the Second Opium War in 1860.

"We believe there is a common understanding in the international community that looted cultural objects should be returned to their own countries. This is a basic cultural right of people in the origin countries," the SACH statement said.

Objects taken by foreign invaders since the 1860s, including many valuable objects from the Old Summer Palace, should be returned to China, it said. "The Chinese government is strongly against auctioning these cultural heritage items."

Meanwhile, the Chinese lawyers would "make every effort" to halt the auction at the Christie's, said Li Xingfeng, a member of the group of lawyers, in Beijing. But he refused to elaborate on what they would do.

"If they were sold, we would start legal proceedings against the buyer," he said.

"We hope to raise public attention in Europe to the fate of numerous Chinese works stolen in the past," Ren Xiaohong, one of the group and representing the APACE in Paris, said Monday.

Editor:Liu Anqi