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Chinese bidder refuses to pay

— Photo: Xinhua

The bronze sculptures in Paris on Monday.

BEIJING: A Chinese man who successfully bid for two looted bronze sculptures auctioned in Paris last week says he will not pay his winning bid .

Cai Mingchao, a collection adviser with the National Treasures Fund, bid €31.49 million ($39.63 million) by telephone during the auction at Christie’s on February 25, said Niu Xianfeng, deputy director of the fund, at a brief press conference on Monday.

“What I want to stress is that this money cannot be paid,” said Mr. Cai said at the press conference. “Every Chinese would have liked to do like this at that moment, and I’m honoured to have the chance to make the bid,” he said. The National Treasures Fund was established in 2002 under the administration of China Foundation for the Development of Social Culture registered under the Ministry of Culture to reclaim looted artefacts.

When asked if he had registered at the auction as a representative of the fund, Mr. Cai only answered: “I did this on behalf of all Chinese people”.

“The fund faces great pressure and risks by bidding for the two sculptures, but this is an extraordinary method taken in an extraordinary situation, which successfully stopped the auction,” said Mr. Niu.

Earlier media reports said the 18th century bronze heads of a rat and a rabbit were sold for €28 million as part of an auction of art works owned by the late French designer Yves Saint Laurent.

China repeatedly demanded the return of the sculptures looted when the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) was burnt down by Anglo-French allied forces during the Second Opium War in 1860. So far, five of the 12 bronze animal heads have been returned, while the whereabouts of five others are unknown. — Xinhua

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