The leader of China’s biggest tomb-raiding ring was handed a death sentence on Thursday, proving the government’s determination in ridding the country of scoundrels who do not respect their cultural heritage.
According to the Global Times, tomb-raider gang leader Yao Yuzhong was found guilty of looting, tomb raiding and selling stolen relics via a highly organized group.
The Tomb-raiding Ring
Hailing from Chifeng, a community located in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Yao's group had been considered one of the most prolific gangs ever captured by the country's long-running battle against tomb raiders.
Because of this, the Chaoyang City Intermediate People's Court in the northeastern province of Liaoning decided to sentence Yao with death penalty, while three of his members were given life sentences, per a report from People's Daily.
Several others who were found to be guilty of being accomplices were sentenced three to 15 years of incarceration.
Apparently, the group was linked to the biggest grave robbery in the country's history since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949.
So far, 225 people from 12 organized gangs who were found to be connected to the case have been arrested, and the government was able to repossess a total of 2,063 stolen historical relics by the end of 2014.
Tomb Raiding Dilemma in China
This week, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang both called for public cooperation in upholding the nation's traditions and legacies by protecting cultural relics that have constantly been targeted by tomb raiders.
According to observers cited by the Global Times, tomb raiders were found to be more active than official archeologists in China.
In fact, there were more excavations conducted by the raiders than those that involved the scientists and authorized relic excavators.
Unfortunately, most tomb raiders cared more about getting rich than preserving the country's legacies.
"Tomb-raiding gangs sometimes make better use of new technologies, such as directional explosion excavating equipment. They don't care that the ancient tombs are damaged, all they want are the relics to make a profit," explained Liu Yang, a cultural relics lawyer in Beijing.
Liu also estimated that the relics sold by tomb raiders abroad are worth millions as he worked on retrieving most Chinese relics sold overseas.
Unfortunately, tomb raiding is not the only threat that cultural relics face; so does urbanization.
"Some officials think they can protect the relics after economic development, after building high-rises, but they actually begin at the wrong end, because the heritage of thousands of years can be damaged in one day," Jiangxi Province Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology head Xu Changqing told the outlet.