United States Returns 64 Cultural Relics, Artworks, and Paleontological Fossils (Sets) to China
The United States returned 64 cultural relics, artworks, and paleontological fossils to China.Summary
China's National Cultural Heritage Administration received 64 items (sets) of cultural relics, artworks, and paleontological fossils from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in Washington and New York on September 16 and 18, 2026. The returned items include a bodhisattva torso from the north side of the west wall of Tianlongshan Cave 17, as well as sculptures, pottery figurines, dinosaur skeleton fossils, fish fossils, and dinosaur egg fossils. All were discovered and seized by U.S. law enforcement during their operations. The return was realized through close coordination between the Chinese National Cultural Heritage Administration, Chinese diplomatic missions in the U.S., and the U.S. side. On January 14, 2009, China and the U.S. first signed a bilateral memorandum of understanding to prevent the illicit import of Chinese cultural relics into the U.S.; the agreement was extended in 2014, 2019, and 2024. Based on this memorandum, the two countries have actively cooperated on returns, resulting in multiple repatriations of Chinese cultural relics that had been taken to the U.S.
(Source：人民網日本語版)