Following the scandal of the theft of two thousand objects from its premises, the British Museum is facing protests from countries such as China and Nigeria, who are demanding the return of looted relics that are in the museum's possession.
The argument that the British Museum is entitled to keep priceless cultural treasures from other countries because it is safer is collapsing, and calls for the repatriation of the stolen items are growing around the world. Among them, Nigeria, which is looking for the "Benin Bronzes," the ornate copper plates dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries. In 1897 they were looted by British forces and subsequently sold to the British Museum to finance military campaigns.
"They are an object of looting. They were illegally transported out of the country. These are stolen objects and they must be returned to Nigeria to the communities they belong to," says Abba Isa Tijani, Director of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments of Nigeria.
China also claims its plundered relics. Especially since in 2004, 10 Chinese masterpieces were stolen from a storage room of the British Museum. And nobody knows how much was lost in the last theft.
“It's hard to believe that no Chinese heirlooms were lost in the stolen lot. (…) The lost heirlooms may very likely be lost forever and cannot be replaced,” says Wang Zhongjie, a specialist in repatriation of heirlooms.
Chinese newspaper Global Times demands British Museum return 'stolen' items
Chinese state media tells the British Museum to return colonial-era "stolen" artifacts.
"We formally request the British Museum to return all Chinese cultural relics acquired through improper channels to China free of charge," the Global Times said in an editorial or opinion on Monday, 8/28.
The intervention is seen as a possible widening of the rift between the Asian nation and the West.
The newspaper said the museum had 23,000 Chinese artifacts and cited, as examples, a Tang Dynasty painting and bronze vessels dating back to the dawn of the Asian nation's civilization.
"Most of the Chinese collections were certainly looted or stolen by Britain when it created and later took advantage of China's crisis, or even robbed China directly," the nationalist paper said, referring to the 19th century upheaval in the Asian nation. The Global Times added that it supported other countries seeking the return of the items.
"The vast majority of the British Museum's vast collection of up to 8 million objects came from outside the United Kingdom, and a significant proportion of it was acquired through improper channels, even by dirty and sinful means," the editorial reads, among other things.
The article comes just ahead of an expected visit by UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverley to Beijing in a bid to repair relations damaged by the Communist Party's crackdown on pro-democracy Hong Kong opposition and other issues.
The British Museum now faces a serious question of credibility.
No list of the priceless antiquities lost from Britain's iconic museum has yet been made public.
