Protest in Guangzhou: Why would you burn garbage?
Barbie Spa: For the cosmopolitan plastic beauty in you
Obama in China: Long gone, and still headlinin'
Lot o' Hotpot: Three Travellers
Dear Slate, yes there are chocolate bars in China
By Kate Ray
The partner of late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent said he will return two bronze animal heads that were looted from China - if the government agrees to grant freedom to Tibet.
The heads were two of twelve zodiac animal sculptures that were originally a part of a water fountain at Beijing's Summer Palace, but were taken from the country during the Second Opium War in 1860. The Chinese government has demanded that they be returned.
Pierre Berge, who plans to sell the heads Monday as part of the Yves Saint Laurent art collection, insisted that because he obtained the pieces legally he isn't obligated to return them. He's said he will anyway, but only for a pretty high price.
“All [the Chinese government has] to do is...give the Tibetans back their freedom,” Berge said. "If they do that, I would be very happy to go myself and bring these two Chinese heads to put them in the Summer Palace in Beijing. It's obviously blackmail but I accept that.”
Terracotta soldier for Taiwan, anyone?
Source: Telegraph
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This is totally a show. He should add his own pig head into the offer.
China just need to bid its time. When the time comes, we will just loot the European treasures and make it ours. Power comes out of the barrel of the gun. Show no mercy to the thieves that steal from you.
Agree wholeheartedly! History is written by the winners. Look how distorted modern Chinese history looks from a China middle school textbook.
When China can go invade Versailles...pillage and loot, and then write about its great victories, then all will be level, right?
China has already looted everyone else's IP and made it their own. Pig sucking China will never get as far as Europe.
I completely support this effort to make the ugly,filthy commie bosses behave.
you cannot wait to show how easy you idiot could be brainwashed that 2 animal heads were rubbed to france in 19th century because of tibet of 20th century.
Animal heads??? Who needs them when China is on a spending spree buying all the mineral resources in the world. Aluminium, gold, silver, copper... all this from feeding the self-righteous with specially marinated pigs!
that's foolish. too bad it's YSL, cause I love YSL and own several YSL things :(
Arrogant, condescending, patronising.
I wonder how close this guy's ties are to the actual YSL brand? It sounds like it would be enough to cause a few import problems for YSL lipsticks and bags.
Yes, his comments were harsh and unnecessary. And I imagine there is more context here than we are aware of, such as behind-the-scenes pushing. In response to this, I believe he wanted to make the point clearly that if the Chinese authorities can make overbearing demands, so can he.
As laws generally cannot be applied retroactively, no current laws require him to return the bronzes just as no laws require France to halt the sale. Therefore making demands, such as demanding that France or Christies halt the sale, is pointless for the Chinese government. In fact, a Paris court rejected China's effort to stop the sale on Monday.
The Chinese government would get much further using sweeteners for his business interests and using nice, quiet language. Many Chinese may not like this, and I can understand the sentiment, but it's the truth.
Or perhaps another Sanley Ho will come along to try to score brownie points by buying the bronzes.
This exact scenario happened a few years ago with some bronze heads being auctioned in Hong Kong.
The PolyGroup (of the PLA) stepped in and bought the heads at an astronomical price for the glory and honor of the Motherland...
That's coz China can afford to and you can't! Go back to you social security.
It's reminiscent of the time when the Greeks tried to unsuccessfully get looted friezes back and god knows what else is in the Louvre.
no it's not. he's not donating them to a museum, he's selling them for profit. put his money wear his mouth is and give the money to the people of tibet.