YSL-Berg Sale: Beijing threat Christie's

Beijing does not . China has condemned Thursday the sale in Paris of two Chinese bronzes belonging to the former fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent disappeared and his companion businessman Pierre Berg. Considering that these objects, looted it nearly 150 years in Beijing, must return to their country of origin, China today promised "serious consequences" at home organizer of the sale, Christie's.

< p> "The State Administration of relics and monuments firmly opposes and condemns any sale of cultural objects that were exported illegally. Christie's will assume all the consequences of this sale, "she says in a statement published on its website. It threatens home sales impact on its development in China, including tightening controls on all its operations on the territory.

The Administration also indicated having prior to the sale of the collection Art Yves Saint-Laurent Pierre Berg to remove the two disputed parts, a head of rat and rabbit head from the sack of the Summer Palace in Beijing by British and French soldiers in 1860.

Christie's "regrets" the decision of China

"But Christie's was stubborn, persistent to be auctioned pieces looted the Summer Palace, violating the spirit of international conventions and consensus on the return of such objects to their countries of origin, affecting the cultural rights of the Chinese people and the feelings of the nation, "says the text. The house Christie's, meanwhile, has so far only said it "regretted" the announcement of "retaliatory measures" in China.

The two pieces from a height of about forty centimeters, were auctioned Wednesday for a total of 15.7 million euros each, but we know who won the bidding over the telephone. The State Administration of relics and monuments indicates "not to recognize the illegal owner of looted items. It will continue to seek the return of these parts in China "by all possible means and channels."

The French court had authorized Monday the sale of these two Chinese bronzes. The court in Paris had been seized by the Association for the Protection of Chinese Art in Europe (APAC), based in Paris, which demanded the suspension of the sale. The sack of the Summer Palace in Beijing in 1860 is one of the most notorious episodes of the invasion of China by the colonial powers, humiliation still live almost 150 years later.