China’s leading state-run newspaper calls on UK to return ‘stolen’ artifacts ahead of James Cleverly visit

‘We formally request the British Museum to return all Chinese cultural relics acquired through improper channels to China free of charge’

File: A Ming Dynasty 16th century stoneware figure is displayed during a press call at the British Museum (Getty Images)

A leading Chinese state-run newspaper has urged the British Museum to return its "stolen" artifacts in an editorial on the eve of a rare visit by the UK foreign secretary.

The statement came in Monday’s edition of the Global Times just two days before James Cleverly's scheduled arrival in Beijing on Wednesday, in what would be the first visit by a British foreign secretary to China in five years.

The Global Times editorial called on the British Museum to return all Chinese cultural relics "acquired through improper channels to China free of charge”.

It referred to Britain’s refusal “over the years” to return artifacts to other countries and accused the museum of ”adopting a resistant, protracted and perfunctory attitude”.

The British Museum houses the biggest collection of Chinese relics anywhere in the West – at least 23,000 – ranging from paintings that date back to the Tang dynasty (618-907) to bronze vessels dating to the dawn of China's civilisation.

Of these, the Global Times said about 2,000 pieces are display, and cited particularly significant examples which include “The Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies” by Gu Kaizhi, which the museum describes as a “masterpiece” and “a milestone in Chinese painting history” dating from between AD 400 and 700.

Other items cited in the editorial include the Liao tri-colored luohan statues; ritual bronzes from the Shang and Zhou dynasties and stone Buddhist sutra scrolls of the Wei and Jin dynasties.

“It's difficult to trace how exactly China lost them to the British Museum, but most Chinese collections were certainly looted or stolen by Britain when it created and later took advantage of China’s crisis, or even directly robbed China,” the newspaper said.

Bronze crane, Qin dynasty (221 206 BC) (British Museum)

Whether or not the artifacts are up for discussion during the foreign secretary's meeting with his Chinese counterpart, a British law enacted in 1963 prohibits the museum from repatriating objects.

Questioning this law, the Global Times said it was "equivalent to the UK installing a threshold on its own door and then telling the owner of the relics that it cannot return the artifacts because it cannot get out of the door".

Part of a child’s jacket during a photo call for the China’s hidden century exhibition at the British Museum (PA)

It called the law "hypocritical and ridiculous", which was used as an excuse for refusing to fulfill international responsibility.

"In our view, the questionable origins of the millions of artifacts in the British Museum raise further concerns about what constitutes the 'largest' theft," it added.

The museum is currently holding a summer exhibit called "China’s Hidden Century", highlighting a period of the Qing dynasty.

File: A series of early 8th century tomb figurines are displayed in a case at the British Museum on January 8, 2014 (Getty Images)

Speaking about Mr Cleverly’s visit, Chinese government spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the two sides will have an "in-depth communication on Sino-British relations and international and regional issues of common concern”.

“We hope the British side will work with us to uphold the spirit of mutual respect, deepen exchanges, enhance mutual understanding and promote the stable development of Sino-British relations.”

The relationship between the two nations has sunk to the lowest level in decades following disagreements over Beijing's assault on civil freedoms in Hong Kong, alleged rights abuses in the Xinjiang region and China's ongoing support for Russia since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The British foreign secretary in June said he would raise issues such as Xinjiang and Hong Kong with the Chinese government and request that Beijing lift sanctions on five British parliamentarians who have been vocal on the matter.

Mr Cleverly was initially scheduled to travel to Beijing in July but his trip was postponed, and his then-counterpart Qin Gang was later replaced as Chinese foreign minister by the veteran diplomat Wang Yi.