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Opinion / Opinion Line

Theft of antiques calls for tougher measures

(China Daily) Updated: 2015-05-29 07:27

Theft of antiques calls for tougher measures

Round-shaped ancient Chinese cast bronze coins are for sale at an antique market in Nanjing city, east Chinas Jiangsu province, 27 March 2009. [Photo/IC]

Nine months, 175 suspects, 10 illegal trade gangs and 1,168 antique items - a recent case solved by the police, which involves theft and illegal trade of antiques, has been ranked by some domestic media as the biggest since 1949. Even one of the earliest jade pieces from China's ancient civilization records appeared on the list of stolen artifacts. Comments:

The gangs were not only large in scale, they were also so well organized that the police spent nine months bringing them to justice. While the illegal antique trade gangs keep updating their equipment and training, the State invests so little in the protection of antiques that each of its staff members is now in charge of the security for antiques at about 100 sites on average; the same staff face corruption, spying and other problems. How can domestic antiques be properly protected by such a weak guard against so strong an enemy?

Beijing Times, May 28

There are many causes for the shocking illegal trade in antiques, one of which is the light penalties the criminals could receive - those stealing or illegally trading antiques pay a small price incomparable to their crimes. Furthermore, the death penalty for illegally trading of antiques has been abolished, which might be a sign of progress in human rights, but is rather controversial because more illegal traders have emerged.

Liu Qingzhu, a leading researcher on archeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, May 27

Professionalism is one of the key words to describe the new trend in the illegal trade of antiques - the gangs have better funding, better training, better equipment and are better organized. That makes it increasingly difficult for the police to crack down on such trading of antiques, highlighting the importance of encouraging ordinary people to participate by reporting any clues about the illegal acts. They might be able to cheat the police for some time, but never all the people.

xinhuanet.com, May 27

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