Many famous newspapers are writing about a new crisis between the Chinese government and France. The reason for this escalation is that the auction house Christie’s sold 2 works of art, which were robbed from the Chinese imperial palace in 19th century.
The problem is that the previous owners of the two bronze figures, have acquired them legally and under the French law the current owner is the legal owner. Thus, China could not enforce the auction house, to confiscate both characters simply. The Chinese government could not provide enough money to buy these two bronze figures.
However, it is really a difficult question, about the legality of this deal. China still can use the argument that the buyer should be aware, that both works of art were robbed and come to Europe illegally. So if I see this issue from this perspective, then I think that China is the legal owner of those bronze figures.