The bronze horse head donated to China by Stanley Ho, on display in the Old Summer Palace, 160 years after it was stolen in Beijing, China, 25 February 2021. Credit: Imaginechina via AP Images
In the age of aggressive ‘wolf warrior’ diplomacy, warm words from Chinese officials about the U.S. are a rarity. Yet Huang Ping, China’s consul general in New York, was unusually effusive after hosting a ceremony last month to celebrate the return of two 7th-century stone carvings to his country, writing on Twitter that the move would “bring positive energy into China-US relations.”
Whether the return of the carvings depicting Zoroastrian demons — that had been on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and are thought to be worth around $3.5 million — can do much to help repair the fractious bilateral relationship is debatable. Their repatriation is, though, the latest sign of success China is achieving in bringing thousands of treasures from around the world back home — an initiative driven both by a desire to reclaim important historical items and to project China’s cultural and economic power.
“It’s about showing the current strength, economic and politi
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