A demand on social media in the nation is for the British Museum to return Chinese artifacts following the recent reported theft of about 2,000 pieces. The demand gained attention from netizens on Weibo. The Chinese government has not commented on it and the BBC asked the British Museum for a statement, but they have not responded yet. After almost 2,000 objects were reported “missing, stolen, or damaged” two weeks ago, the museum has been under pressure. As soon as the news came out, one of the employees was fired. In addition, the director Hartwig Fischer announced his resignation. Following reports of theft of artifacts, other countries have also declared that the British Museum can’t be trusted anymore with antiquities.

   The Greek government, which has been calling on the return of the Parthenon sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, renewed the request.

   I think the British Museum doesn’t have to return the artifacts from 2 aspects.

   First, they are valuable because we can see them in the British Museum. Artifacts brought from other countries imply the historical relations between nations, which means all of them are not necessarily stolen. They can be present from one nation to another nation.

   Second, we can’t change the history. Even if they were originally created in China, the U.K. has owned the artifacts for centuries and I think it doesn’t mean that it can’t be the right reason for China to get them back easily from the British Museum.

For these two reasons, I think the British Museum shouldn’t give up the artifacts.