Stolen terracotta statue thumb will not affect China-US cultural ties

The "regretful" incident of the theft of a 2,000-year-old Terracotta warrior statue's thumb at a Philadelphia museum will not affect the cultural exchanges between China and the US, the Chinese Consul-General in New York

Zhang Qiyue has said.

Zhang made the remark in a letter on Thursday to David Oh, member of the Philadelphia City Council, who wrote to him last month with an official apology from the city of Philadelphia over the incident.

In a letter dated March 13 and addressed to the Chinese Consulate General in New York, Oh said the city council of Philadelphia passed a resolution to express the city's apology to the Chinese people for the damage that was caused to the statue, which was on loan from China.

The letter of David Oh, member of the city council of Philadelphia

A 24-year-old US man sneaked into a closed exhibit at the Franklin Institute last December, and took a selfie with the life-sized clay soldier, valued at 4.5 million US dollars, placing his arm around it. However, he broke off then stole one of the statue's thumbs.

Oh said that even though the city council has no right to supervise the private museum, they will call on better protection for the foreign relics during exhibitions in the city, while educating the locals about the value of the relics.

Oh also expressed hope to further forge good relations with China.

In his reply, the Chinese Consul-General said it was a regretful incident, but as "an isolated case, it won’t affect the cultural and people-to-people exchange between the two sides."

The resolution was transferred to the Cultural Heritage Promotion Center of Shaanxi Province on the same day, Zhang noted.

The response letter by the Chinese Consulate General in New York

The Terracotta Warriors, which date back to 209 B.C., are part of the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China.

The US man, identified as Michael Rohana, has been accused of stealing an artwork from a museum, concealment of the artwork and interstate transportation of stolen property. He is out on bail pending trial.

(CGTN)