Lawyers pledge to stymie relics' sale

By Zhang Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-26 09:07

Related Readings: Auction raises row over China´s lost treasures

Chinese lawyers yesterday vowed to continue to fight the sale of two bronze relics looted from Beijing's Old Summer Palace, despite a Paris court ruling against a previous bid to halt the auction.

Auctioneer Christie's was scheduled to put the 18th-century rabbit and rat head statues under the hammer in Paris at about 7 pm yesterday (2am today, Beijing time).

The 85-lawyer team is now working with French law firm Cabinet DeHeng-Shi & Chen Associs to file a new lawsuit against Christie's, the bronzes' current owner Pierre Berge and the buyer if the relics are sold rather than returned to China, Liu Yang, the head of the team, told China Daily yesterday.

The Chinese government on Wednesday demanded the auction be canceled because it undermined international conventions, violated China's cultural rights and interests, and hurt national sentiment.

The sculptures are part of the art collection of French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent's estate and are expected to be auctioned for between 8 million and 10 million euros each.

The heads were stolen from Beijing's Old Summer Palace when invading French and British forces razed the imperial grounds in 1860 during the Second Opium War.

Liu said his team has made "new plans to expedite the return" of the relics. "We'll fight to the bitter end, using all means necessary," he said.

The American Chinese Collectors Association and the Eastern Cultural Foundation also issued a joint statement yesterday at a Los Angeles press conference, urging Chinese collectors worldwide to boycott Christie's if it insisted on auctioning the relics, which "China has the unarguable right to own".

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