MOSCOW, Aug 27 China's state-run Global Times published an editorial in which it formally demanded that the British Museum return all Chinese cultural relics originally obtained in dubious ways during the colonial period, after the scandal with the theft of exhibits.
«As a Chinese media outlet, we formally demand that the British Museum return to China free of charge all improperly acquired Chinese cultural relics, and refrain from resisting, procrastinating and using a routine approach,» the article says.
The publication believes that this «long overdue work» should begin as soon as possible, and also that most of the Chinese collections were probably looted or stolen by the UK during the crisis periods of Chinese history. In addition, the newspaper supports the demand to return cultural relics to India, Nigeria and South Africa, which also previously suffered from the actions of the UK,
the collapse of the widely held claim that «foreign cultural objects are better protected in the British Museum».
The British Museum holds about 23,000 cultural relics from China.
Earlier, the British Museum announced the theft, disappearance and damage of a number of items from its collection. Most of the items were gold jewelry, semi-precious stones and glassware dating from the 15th century BC to the 19th century AD. Later it became known that the exhibits stolen from the museum were exhibited on eBay for an amount ten times lower than the real value. British Museum director Hartwig Fischer has announced he is stepping down from his post following the theft scandal.
The Telegraph newspaper reported that former senior curator Peter Higgs, who worked at the museum for 30 years, lost his job at the institution after his superiors accused him of stealing jewelry from the museum's storage, is suspected of the theft. Higgs' family denies the allegations and believes he is innocent. According to the publication, a total of up to two thousand exhibits could have been stolen from the museum.