Apr 30, 2009, 11:15 GMT
An 18th century Chinese royal seal has reignited debate over stolen relics.
Cultural officials in China were enraged when a French auction house sold the priceless antiquity at a sale in Paris yesterday (29.04.09). The winning bid was more than £400,000.
A spokesman for Beijing's Summer Palace - the former home of the Qing Dynasty, who ruled the country from 1644 to 1912 - said the seal was stolen by foreign troops nearly 150 years ago.
In an official statement, the palace authority said: "We once again express strong indignation at this sort of repeated action that hurts the Chinese people's feelings, harms their cultural interests, and violates relevant international pacts.
"Such relics should all be repatriated to China and returned to their place of origin".
The seal was looted when British and French armies razed the Summer Palace at the end of the Second Opium War in 1860.
It ended up in the personal collection of a descendant of Elie Jean de Vassoigne, a French general who was in charge of the invading soldiers.
China's government has not commented on the sale.
In February, Christie's auction house caused controversy when they sold two Chinese bronzes for £15.7 million.
Authorities in Beijing demanded the auction be cancelled and the items be returned to China.
The winning bidder turned out to be a Chinese art collector who refused to pay in protest, thus stalling the sale.
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