中国呼吁归还圆明园文物

China has made a new appeal for the return of relics¹ looted by British and French troops from the Old Summer Palace in Beijing 150 years ago.

中国呼吁归还150年前被英法联军洗劫的圆明园文物。

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Last year China tried to stop the sale of two bronze statues from the palace at an auction

Chinese cultural officials said that at least 1.5 million antiquities³（古迹，古代史） were missing from the palace, which is also known as the Yuanmingyuan.

Many of the artefacts（人工制品） are thought to be in museums and private collections.

Actor and martial⁴ artist（武术家） Jackie Chan became the first person to sign a petition for the cause.

Auctions⁵ boycott⁶

The appeal for the return of the relics was made by China's Yuanmingyuan park authority exactly 150 years after the looting（抢劫，洗劫） of the palace.

In response, French Foreign Ministry⁷ spokesman Bernard Valero said "the pillaging⁸（掠夺，抢劫） of the Summer Palace was a tragedy", adding that the issue should be discussed calmly with China.

In its appeal, the Yuanmingyuan park authority also called for a boycott（抵制） on auctions featuring the antiquities.

Last year, China had tried but failed to stop the sale of two bronze statues from the palace at an auction in Paris.

The sculptures - a rabbit's head and a rat's head - were part of a collection belonging to the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.

Chinese officials say the animals represent the Chinese zodiac（生肖） , and adorned⁹（装饰） a fountain at the palace.

The Yuanmingyuan was used by the emperors of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) as their summer resort garden.

Its sacking and burning by the British and French during the second Opium¹⁰（鸦片） War on 18-19 October 1860 is seen in China as a cause of national humiliation¹¹ at the hands of Western armies.