Paris court refuses to stop sale of looted Chinese bronzes

　　北京时间24日的凌晨，从巴黎大审法院传来的消息并未给忙碌焦灼数日的中国赴法律师团和牵肠挂肚的国人带来任何振奋，更多的是意料之中--圆明园兽首的拍卖将如期开锤。国宝的"解救之路"再添荆棘。

　　A Paris court on Monday ruled against stopping the sale of two looted Chinese bronze sculptures which come up for auction at Christie's on Wednesday.

　　Under the ruling of the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris, the plaintiff, the Association for the Protection of Chinese Art in Europe (APACE), was ordered to pay compensation to the defendant.

　　Ren Xiaohong, a lawyer for APACE, told Xinhua that it was "of great significance" to file the lawsuit.

　　"We hope to arouse public attention in Europe on the fate of numerous Chinese works stolen in the past, to help keep those relics well protected and collected," Ren said.

　　The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) relics, the heads of a bronze rabbit and a rat, were among an original set of 12 bronze animal heads that once adorned the imperial summer resort Yuanmingyuan. They were looted when the palace was burnt down by Anglo-French allied forces during the Second Opium War in 1860.

　　The pair became part of a collection of the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. They have been put up for auction by his partner, Pierre Berge.

　　The two items are expected to fetch between 16 million and 20 million euros (20.8 million to 26 million U.S. dollars).

　　So far, five of the 12 bronze animal heads have been returned to China, while the whereabouts of five others are unknown.