All 12 stolen zodiac statues must be brought home

ON WEDNESDAY, THE HORSE HEAD STATUE, one of the 12 zodiac statues that was looted by the Anglo-French army during their incursion into China in 1860, was returned to China. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

When the Anglo-French army rampaged through Yuanmingyuan, the then royal gardens in Beijing, they pillaged almost everything that was there.

The 12 zodiac animal statues were among the pillaged antiques. Of all the things that were seized and taken overseas, the 12 statues have attracted perhaps the most attention because they symbolize unique traditional Chinese culture.