Quotable

What we try to recover is not just the relic itself, but also a symbol of international justice."

Tong Zeng, president of the China Federation of Demanding Compensation from Japan, said after the group appealed to Japan's Emperor Akihito to return a 1,300 year-old stele taken from China over a century ago. The Honglujing Stele was looted by Japanese soldiers early last century from northeastern China and now sits in "virtual seclusion" in Tokyo's Imperial Palace, it said.