There is a new twist in the ongoing saga over the two bronzes looted from the Yuanmingyuan in 1860 and set for auction next week in France. This past week the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement of protest, and a group of Beijing-based lawyers has asked French courts to block the sale of the items, which are currently part of the estate of Yves Saint Laurent.
Now Saint Laurent’s partner, Pierre Berge has made an offer: The estate will return the bronzes to China, free of charge, in exchange for China’s promise to respect human rights and pave the way for Τibetan independence:
“I acquired them and I am completely protected by the law, so what the Chinese are saying is a bit ridiculous,” he told Reuters Television on Friday. “But I am prepared to offer this bronze head to the Chinese straight away.”
“All they have to do is to declare they are going to apply human rights, give the Τibetans back their freedom and agree to accept the Dalai Lama on their territory,” he 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,” he said.
First of all, somebody’s forgotten their history. He can’t put the bronze back in the palace because Lord Elgin and the Anglo-French Expedition of 1860 torched the place. He’s going to have to drop it off at the Poly Museum.
And yes, it is blackmail, but it would also appear that a legacy of European imperialism in the 19th century is on a collision course with another legacy, that of Qing imperial expansion in the 18th.
While I personally feel that private and public collections in Europe and American should begin the process of negotiating with China over the return of antiquities seized during the age of imperialism, there’s something also to be said for M. Berge’s chutzpah.
Since it’s safe to say we’ll sooner see Hu Jintao admit to being a closet smack addict before anyone in China agrees to such a proposal, barring a court injunction, the bronzes will likely go on sale next week as planned.
I haven’t had time this afternoon to cruise the BBSs, but me guesses this suggestion is not going to sit too well with the more patriotic netizens in the China blogosphere…
