US returns looted artefacts to China

The United States handed 64 cultural relics and palaeontological fossils back to China in September 2026, ahead of a meeting between the two countries' leaders. At a ceremony at the Chinese embassy in Washington on Wednesday, Chinese officials received 58 items from the cultural property, art and antiquities programme of US Homeland Security Investigations; the Manhattan District Attorney's Office returned a further six the following day.

As it ran

24 September 2026

• Summits for all diplomatic seasons: how the US has set the stage for Xi Jinping South China Morning Post

18 September 2026

• US hands over 64 artefacts to China in diplomatic push before leaders’ meeting South China Morning Post
• US hands over 64 artefacts to China in diplomatic push before summit South China Morning Post