Chinese bidder of looted sculptures refuses to pay

A Chinese man who successfully bid for two looted bronze sculptures auctioned in Paris last week says his winning bid will not be paid.

Cai Mingchao, a collection advisor of National Treasure Funds of China (NTFC), bid 31.49 million euros (39.63 million U.S. dollars) by telephone during the auction at Christie's on Feb. 25,Niu Xianfeng, deputy director of the fund, said at a brief press conference Monday.

"What I want to stress is that this money cannot be paid," Cai said at the press conference.

An unnamed officer with NTFC said Cai successfully registered as an individual bidder on the day of the auction at Christie's because of his good reputation. Usually, bidders are required to register several days before an auction.

"Every Chinese would have liked to do like this at that moment, and I'm honored to have the chance to make the bid," he said.

NTFC was established in 2002 under the administration of China Foundation for the Development of Social Culture registered under the name of the Ministry of Culture for the purpose of repatriating looted Chinese artifacts.

A Xinhua reporter asked if he registered at the auction as a representative of the fund, but Cai only answered, "I did this on behalf of all Chinese people."
"The fund faces great pressure and risks by bidding for the two sculptures, but this is an extraordinary method taken in an extraordinary situation, which successfully stopped the auction," Niu said.

Earlier media reports said the 18th Century bronze heads of a rat and a rabbit were sold for 28 million euros as part of an auction of art works owned by the late French designer Yves Saint Laurent.

China has repeatedly demanded the return of the sculptures looted when the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) was burned down by Anglo-French allied forces during the Second Opium War in 1860.However, Christie's held the auction after a court in Paris turned down a motion by Chinese lawyers to stop the auction.

So far, five of the 12 bronze animal heads have been returned, while the whereabouts of five others are unknown.

Wang Qing, spokesman of a group of almost 90 lawyers who have been trying to boycott the auction by legal means, told Xinhua that they were excited to hear the news.

"We admire Cai's action, which demonstrated the power of Chinese people," Wang said. He said Cai was a patriot, who had spent a lot of money in repatriating Chinese cultural relics. He was forced to do this in an effort to stop the auction.

Cai, a native of Fujian, also runs a cultural company in Xiamen city in the province. He bought a bronze buddha statue at a sotheby's auction for 116 million Hong Kong dollars (14.95 million U.S. dollars) in 2006, and brought the rare treasure back to China.

Wang said Cai's action would help the lawyers pursue further legal actions.

Gan Xuejun, general manager of Beijing Huachen Auctions Co. Ltd., said Cai's method of foiling the auction was improper and he sacrificed his reputation as a well-known antiques collector.

"I'm very surprised. Cai's reputation and future career could be ruined. Cai made the choice in an urgent situation for the country, but I personally do not support such behavior," Gan told Xinhua.

"As an experienced artifacts collector and advisor, Cai fully understood all possible consequences and he chose to do what he did after careful consideration," the NTFC officer said.

In China, bidders must pay a deposit before attending an auction. However, a deposit was unnecessary outside China and auctioneers usually accept reliable bidders, said Gan.

Gillian Leung, a public relations manager with Christie's Hong Kong office, said the company was investigating the case, but no official statement was available.

Shan Jing, chief representative of Christie's Beijing office, said usually such a case would be submitted to the company's legal affairs department, and its lawyers would decide on further action.

Gan said Christie's may take legal action to pursue payment from Cai.

中國藏家蔡銘超拍下獸首 但表示不會付款

3月2日上午10時30分，中華搶救海外文物專項(xiàng)基金在北京豐聯(lián)廣場豐聯(lián)會館召開新聞通報(bào)會，公布了佳士得拍賣的圓明園鼠首和兔首的中標(biāo)者情況。據(jù)介紹，中標(biāo)者為來自廈門的蔡銘超。

中華搶救海外文物專項(xiàng)基金副總干事牛憲鋒主持了會議。他宣布，北京時間上個月26日在巴黎佳士得拍賣會上拍得圓明園鼠首和兔首的是“一位令人欽佩的中國人”：中華搶救海外文物專項(xiàng)基金-國寶工程收藏顧問蔡銘超先生。

蔡銘超也出席了新聞通報(bào)會。他說，“當(dāng)時我想，每一位中國人在那個時刻都會站出來的，只不過是給了我這個機(jī)會，我也只是盡了自己的責(zé)任。但我要強(qiáng)調(diào)的是，這個款不能付。”

牛憲鋒透露，拍賣會當(dāng)天，蔡銘超做了一個委托，當(dāng)時的本意是看一下拍賣現(xiàn)場的情況。如果撤拍或流拍，我們就不參與了；如果是進(jìn)入了正常的拍賣程序，我們就會進(jìn)一步關(guān)注。在現(xiàn)場拍賣師報(bào)價(jià)900萬、1000萬、1100萬歐元的情況下，我們參與了競拍，最終這兩件鼠首兔首銅像以總共3149萬歐元落槌。但蔡銘超已經(jīng)強(qiáng)調(diào)，這款不能付。

“現(xiàn)實(shí)已經(jīng)逼迫我們不得不面對一個相對無奈的局面，”牛憲峰說，“我們必須采取強(qiáng)有力的有效手段來阻斷流失文物的拍賣，在力所能及的范圍內(nèi)履行我們堅(jiān)決反對拍賣的主張。”

據(jù)介紹，圓明園鼠首兔首銅像拍賣一事，中華搶救海外文物專項(xiàng)基金此前一直密切關(guān)注并明確表態(tài)。2009年2月26日，鼠首兔首銅像的拍賣已經(jīng)落槌，拍賣現(xiàn)場舉牌人背后的委托人究竟是誰？近幾天來，新聞媒體和社會各界有多種猜測，如今水落石出。

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