Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="robinjojo, post: 8162528, member: 110226"]These extracts raise very pertinant issues.  I agree that objects that were essentially looted during colonial and imperialist times should be repatriated to their countries of origin. We, as a global civilization have responsiblity to correct prior wrongs through repatriation. In the case of the Summer Palace, keep in mind that in the 1850's the British East Indian Company imposed the opium trade on the Chinese, following China's defeat in the Opium War.  In their conquest of India, in the 18th century, the same British East India Company brutally crushed the resistance of Tipu Sutlan in the kingdom of Mysore during the 1790s. I do see the problematic aspects of the restrictions on exporting ancients and other coins from countries with MOUs wtih the US and other countries.  Given the fluid nature of coins, and the ways they ciruculated over the centuries, claims of cultural relevance become tenuous.  Further, some of the countries with MOUs, such as Yemen, are in the midst of a savage civil war that has brutalized and killed untold numbers of civiians, including children starving to death in the middle of a famine.  No doubt international politics is playing a major role behind many agreements, but the seizure and repatriation of coins to to war zones does nothing beneficial to the victims of these conflicts.[/QUOTE]