Blame the Foreigner

Archaeo-blogger Paul Barford reiterates Chinese propaganda in his latest post. See
http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2010/11/china-protecting-sites-needs-more.html

Of course, in his anti-American world view, not just any foreigners, but specifically Americans are ultimately to blame for the looting of Chinese tombs, not the Chinese themselves or their corrupt government that parcels out "legitimate" sales of high-end antiquities to the connected few at the same time it imposes death sentences on poor farmers who turn to tomb raiding to feed their families.

I'm all for China encouraging its citizens to both respect ancient tombs and to collect redundant artifacts. But blaming foreigners for the problem of looting simply does not wash, particularly given China's own red hot internal market for antiquities.

Instead of blaming foreigners for the looting of Chinese tombs, Barford, his buddies at Saving Antiquities for Everyone and the Chinese press should instead focus their energies on the scandalous plans of a Chinese mining company to blow up an important early Buddhist site in Afghanistan. See http://phdiva.blogspot.com/2010/11/buddhist-monastery-in-afghanistan.html