Cultural Restitution
June 28, 2024
CHINA
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China
Updated February 2026
Below is a schedule of successful restitutions made to China, together with other restitution news.
Entries are updated regularly
February 2026
Japan is being urged to return the Chinese Tang Honglu Well Stele of the Tang Dynasty and its pavilion looted by Japan during the Russo-Japanese War in 1908
June 2024
China launches the Qingdao Recommendations for the protection and return of cultural objects removed from colonial contexts, part of the China-proposed Global Civilization Initiative
More News
The USA is being urged not to renew a five-year cultural property agreement with the Arab Republic of Egypt, on the grounds Egypt has prioritised ‘prestige megaprojects’ and ‘political spectacle’ over site protection and collections management
“Modern morality,” wrote Oscar Wilde, “consists in accepting the standard of one’s age.” But how can museums define the moral standard of this age when constrained by historic rules of stewardship and the absence of a modern ethical framework?
This week’s announcement that Cambridge University has transferred legal ownership of its collection of 116 Benin artefacts to Nigeria could be hugely significant