Cameron quizzed over artifacts looted by British
Print Edition
British Prime Minister David Cameron faced demands for the return of priceless artifacts looted from Beijing in the 19th century on the last day of his visit to China yesterday when he traveled to the southwestern city of Chengdu.
Last Friday, Cameron set up a microblog on Sina Weibo which, by last night, had attracted more than 270,000 followers. He invited questions, saying he would aim to reply during the visit.
The China Center for International Economic Exchanges, a prominent think tank, asked: “When will Britain return the illegally plundered artifacts?”
It was referring to 23,000 items in the British Museum that it says were looted by the British Army in 1900, part of the Eight-Nation Alliance that put down a popular uprising against the incursion of European imperial powers in China.
To the Chinese, the ransacking of the Forbidden City, and the earlier destruction of the Old Summer Palace in Beijing in 1860 remain key symbols of how the country was once dominated by foreign powers.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment by AFP.
Not all the questions were so serious.
“FalcoNi_MJ” wrote: “Hi David, could you kindly ask the TV crew to accelerate the shooting of Sherlock, we deadly miss the curly Sher. Also, do you see Beijing defeating London and getting the title of City of Fog?”
Other comments included: “Please let Manchester United sell Rooney quickly” and “I really want to visit Downton Abbey.”
Some even asked for his opinion on diver Tom Daley dating a man.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
