China tells Britain’s Cameron to return looted treasures – Third World must demand too
Off went Cameron to China in a huff thinking that Britain’s help was needed to prop up rising China’s economy. Lesson Cameron learnt humiliatingly was China is a great power Britain now is not. It was certainly no meeting of equals. If Cameron huffed and puffed in Colombo he certainly ended up groveling before China yet to no avail. If that was not enough to take back home China has demanded the return of priceless artefacts looted from Beijing in the 19th century. Now that China has set the ball rolling is now time all former colonies start forwarding their lists and seek repatriation and reparations too.
The tables have certainly turned. Decades back you will never imagine Western leaders bending before Asia’s giants we are now facing a total new ball game. Human Rights accusations from London end up voiceless landing in Beijing. Ban on British journalists go nothing beyond attempts to diplomatically solve matters. But China has made very clear who the boss is.
China Centre for International Economic Exchanges headed by former Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan had just one question for the visiting British premier ‘when will Britain return the illegally plundered artefacts’ – 23,000 items that British army looted. If a British officer wrote in the 19th century ‘you can scarcely imagine the beauty and magnificence of the places we burnt. It made one’s heart sore to burn them’ – if it made a British soldier’s heart burn, Britain should imagine the heart ache it had given to 90% of the world it once ruled over. China made public its intention to demand the return of looted treasures in 2009 when it sent missions to museums in Britain and France to inspect 1.5million artefacts stolen during the Opium Wars.
Off went Cameron to China in a huff thinking that Britain’s help was needed to prop up rising China’s economy. Lesson Cameron learnt humiliatingly was China is a great power Britain now is not. It was certainly no meeting of equals. If Cameron huffed and puffed in Colombo he certainly ended up groveling before China yet to no avail. If that was not enough to take back home China has demanded the return of priceless artefacts looted from Beijing in the 19th century. Now that China has set the ball rolling is now time all former colonies start forwarding their lists and seek repatriation and reparations too.
The tables have certainly turned. Decades back you will never imagine Western leaders bending before Asia’s giants we are now facing a total new ball game. Human Rights accusations from London end up voiceless landing in Beijing. Ban on British journalists go nothing beyond attempts to diplomatically solve matters. But China has made very clear who the boss is.
China Centre for International Economic Exchanges headed by former Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan had just one question for the visiting British premier ‘when will Britain return the illegally plundered artefacts’ – 23,000 items that British army looted. If a British officer wrote in the 19th century ‘you can scarcely imagine the beauty and magnificence of the places we burnt. It made one’s heart sore to burn them’ – if it made a British soldier’s heart burn, Britain should imagine the heart ache it had given to 90% of the world it once ruled over. China made public its intention to demand the return of looted treasures in 2009 when it sent missions to museums in Britain and France to inspect 1.5million artefacts stolen during the Opium Wars.
