China18 September, 20262 min read
U.S. Returns 64 Chinese Cultural Relics And Fossils To China In Washington And New York
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The United States returned 64 Chinese cultural relics and fossils in two batches to China. Handover occurred in Washington and New York, conducted by HSI and Manhattan DA's Office.
8 outlets told this the same way.
64 Items Returned
The United States returned 64 Chinese cultural relics and paleontological fossils to China, with China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) saying the items were handed over in two batches in Washington and New York by Homeland Security Investigations and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. At the return ceremonies, Rao Quan, vice minister of Culture and Tourism and administrator of the NCHA, signed the confirmation of the return and receipt on behalf of the Chinese side.
The returned items, seized by U.S. law enforcement agencies, included the torso of a bodhisattva statue from the Tianlongshan Grottoes, along with statues, terracotta figures, dinosaur skeleton fossils, fish fossils and dinosaur egg fossils. China’s Global Times spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press conference that China and the US should continue to act in the spirit of equality, respect and mutual benefit and “accomplish more concrete good deeds that benefit both countries and their peoples.”
Ceremonies and Officials
Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng and Consul General in New York Chen Li were present at the ceremonies, alongside representatives from the U.S. State Department, Homeland Security Investigations and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
In New York, Xinhua said the United States returned 64 Chinese cultural relics and paleontological fossils to China, with the NCHA describing the handover as part of China-U.S. cooperation to combat illicit trafficking under a memorandum of understanding signed in 2009 and renewed three times since.
The NCHA said this week’s return marked the fifth time that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office had returned cultural relics to China, and it said the process was facilitated through coordination between the NCHA, Chinese diplomatic and consular missions in the US, and US authorities.
Guo Jiakun linked the repatriation to the “consensus reached by the two heads of state at their Beijing meeting” and said it “demonstrates the broad prospects for building a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability.”
Broader Cooperation Stakes
China Daily reported that the United States returned 58 Chinese cultural relics, artworks and paleontological fossils on Wednesday, including a Bodhisattva statue from the Tianlongshan Grottoes in North China’s Shanxi province, with a handover ceremony held at the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC. At that ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng said the return “reflects both sides' responsibility to history, respect for civilization and commitment to justice,” and he thanked Homeland Security Investigations, particularly its CPAA Program, for sustained efforts.
Global Times said the return of 58 cultural relics, works of art and paleontological fossils was a tangible outcome of the two countries’ implementation of the consensus reached by the two heads of state during their meeting in Beijing and their efforts to build a constructive relationship of strategic stability. The embassy remarks by Xie Feng described the handover as “a major achievement in mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the United States,” and said the repatriation of cultural property serves as “a beacon of justice, safeguarding the shared cultural heritage of humanity.”