The BBC World Service has just reported on its 01.00h. 8 December 1997
international news, that a court in northern China yesterday
passed death sentences on two thieves found guilty of stealing the
heads from five statues with an estimated total value equivalent to
US$ 4,000, while a third man has been given a heavy prison sentence for
loaning the looters a bicycle that was used in the crime.

The death penalty has been available to Chinese courts for a number of
years for a range of cultural property crimes, including museum and
monument theft, illicit excavation and art smuggling, though few cases
seem to have been reported to foreign media and I have never been
able to get any statistics on cultural property crime or penalties
imposed for these.

I would be glad to have details of any other cases.

Patrick J. Boylan
(Professor of Arts Policy and Management)

City University, Frobisher Crescent, Barbican, London EC2Y 8HB, UK;
phone: +44-171-477.8750, fax:+44-171-477.8887; e-mail: [log in to unmask]
World Wide Web site: http://www.city.ac.uk/artspol/