Australia Repatriates Smuggled Historical Treasures to China in Landmark Cultural Restitution

Three historical artifacts that were smuggled out of China by Australia have now been delivered to Beijing.

Chinese authorities in Canberra received a dinosaur fossil that is more than 100 million years old as well as two Tang Dynasty figures. The items were confiscated by police at the Australian border, who then reported them to the appropriate authorities for further inquiry, according to BBC News.

(Photo: by DAVID GRAY/AFP via Getty Images) Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (L) and Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney walk to a media conference at Parliament House in Canberra on October 14, 2023. Australians have roundly rejected greater rights for Indigenous citizens, scuppering plans to amend the country's 122-year-old constitution after a divisive and racially-tinged referendum campaign.

Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, will visit Beijing later this month after the handover.

These items are:

A fossil of a long-necked lizard called a hyphalosaurus, which lived between 120 and 133 million years ago in northeastern China.

A figure from the Tang Dynasty (618 to 907 CE) showing a rider on a horse playing a wind instrument. To ensure a secure voyage to the afterlife, these statues were erected in tombs.

An altar object from the Tang Dynasty that is a gilded bronze statue of the Buddhist god Avalokitesvara.

According to a representative of the Australian government, the Tang Dynasty artifacts were brought the next year, while the fossil was imported in 2020.

Before they reached Australia, the commodities had been forcibly transferred from China to other nations. No one was charged since there was no proof the Australian importers knew the items had been taken illegally from China, the spokeswoman continued.

Two other pieces from the Ming and Qing eras were also presented to China at the handover ceremony by the National Gallery of Australia and a private collector.

At the event, according to the news agency Xinhua, China's envoy to Australia, Xiao Qian, conveyed his "heartfelt gratitude" to the Australians.

A Successful Collaboration

Australia and China have reportedly been collaborating closely for the past three years to assist the return of illegally imported fossils, artwork, and cultural artifacts, according to Chinese official media.

After a ten-year inquiry revealed that three bronze statues from the 9th and 10th centuries had been stolen, Australia's National Gallery returned them to Cambodia in August.

The repatriation of four Aboriginal spears that were stolen by British explorer Captain James Cook and his landing party in 1770 when they first landed in Australia was also reported in March.

China has been louder recently in demanding the repatriation of historical artifacts that were taken from them, including ones that are presently in the British Museum.

A Similar Story

In January this year, nine wooden Buddha sculptures that had been in the family of an Australian citizen for more than a century have now been returned to Thailand.

The little carved figurines, which are each around 10-15 cm tall, were returned at the request of Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which handed them over to the Fine Arts Department of the Ministry of Culture in a formal ceremony yesterday.

According to a story on the news website Thaiger, Canberra resident Murray Upton donated the artifacts, which are believed to have been created by regional artists in the southern city of Trang. Murray Upton claimed to have received the sculptures from his father, who bought them in Thailand in 1911.