China receives historical treasures from Australia

Australia has given back to Beijing three old things that were taken out of China illegally.

Someone in Canberra gave some very old things to officials from China. The things were a fossil of a dinosaur that is more than 100 million years old, and two small statues from a time called the Tang Dynasty.

Police at the Australian border took the items and sent them to authorities for investigation.

The transfer is happening before the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese‘s visit to Beijing next month.

“On Wednesday, Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke, said that today we have seen how two countries can work well together to bring back cultural objects to their original home. ” “Whether Australia has important cultural belongings or we have belongings abroad, they should be given back to us. ”

These are the things:

A fossil of a long-necked reptile species called hyphalosaurus was found in north-eastern China. This reptile lived around 120 to 133 million years ago.
A statue from the Tang Dynasty that shows a person riding a horse and playing a musical instrument. These objects were put in burial sites to make sure that the person who died would have a safe trip to the life after death.
A Tang Dynasty statue made of golden bronze portraying the Buddhist god Avalokitesvara, which was probably used as an object for worship on an altar.
When asked by the BBC, a spokesperson from the Australian government said that the fossil was brought into the country in 2020, and the Tang Dynasty items were brought in the year after.

The things were taken out of China without permission and then brought to other countries before being brought to Australia. No one was punished because there was no proof that the Australian importers knew the objects had been taken out of China illegally, said the spokesperson.

During the handover ceremony, China received two other ancient items from the Ming and Qing dynasties. These items were given to China by the National Gallery of Australia and a private collector.

China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, thanked the Australians at the ceremony and said he was very grateful. This was reported by the news agency Xinhua.

Chinese state media said that Australia and China have been working together for the last three years to help bring back cultural artifacts, artistic objects, and fossils that were illegally brought into the country.

In August, the national gallery of Australia gave back three old bronze statues to Cambodia. It happened because after ten years of investigating, they discovered that these sculptures were taken illegally.

In March, it was announced that four Aboriginal spears that British explorer Captain James Cook and his group took when they arrived in Australia in 1770 would be given back to their original owners.

China has been speaking up more and more in asking for the return of historical objects that were taken from them, such as things that the British Museum has at the moment.