[CPProt.net] China: theft of cultural relics from ancient sites and museums in China jumped by 80 per cent last year

[MSN and CPProt list (Ton Cremers)]

 Theft of cultural relics jumps 80pc

>From correspondents in Beijing

February 28, 2005

THE theft of cultural relics from ancient sites and museums in China jumped
by 80 per cent last year, officials said in state media today, announcing
plans to stop the plunder.


Forty cases involving 222 items stolen from protected sites and museums were
recorded in 2004, an 81.8 per cent increase year-on-year, the State
Administration of Cultural Heritage said.

Heritage officials cited by the China Daily newspaper said the protection of
cultural relics had come under "severe threat from increases in illegal
excavation, theft and smuggling in recent years".


In an effort to curb the trade, enforcement agencies across the country have
been ordered to set up stringent safeguards, administration official Liu
Qifu said, without specifying what measures would be taken.


According to the administration, 21 of the cases last year involved units
involved in relic protection, while 11 occurred in museums and eight in
government offices responsible for relics.


The figure does not include thefts from illicit excavation at ancient tombs,
said Shan Jixiang, head of the administration.


Driven by demand from overseas, the smuggling of relics has become a
lucrative business.


The goods mainly head to Europe, Japan and the United States but are also
turning up in private art collections in main Chinese cities, state media
has previously reported.


Generally traders purchase relics in markets or from large and organized
networks of people, ranging from farmers to sophisticated antique experts.


They use foreign students, expatriates living in China or even tour groups
to smuggle the goods out of China in often unchecked luggage. Many other
pieces are shipped or mailed.


Experts quoted by Xinhua said relics could be smuggled out of the country as
early as a week after they were stolen, making it all but impossible for
cultural heritage protection departments to trace them.


Despite the flood of relics overseas, law enforcement officials occasionally
crack a big case.


Last year police in eastern Anhui province arrested 37 people who stole and
smuggled 469 relics, including more than 100 state-protected art works. 

AFP


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