But again, it does not mean an end to legal obstacles. For one, the state party has to “specify” the protected object, meaning China has to prove that the statue is an officially specified cultural heritage. The second obstacle is the acquisitive prescription. If the present claimant of the immovable object has possessed it continuously, openly and non-violently for 20 years, he/she shall have the right to own it. Therefore, China has to file the legal claim as quickly as possible.

Another relatively long-shot remedy is to invoke the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, which requires close bilateral cooperation in diplomacy and law enforcement.

In this case, however, moral power could be a powerful weapon. The statue contains the mummified body of Zhanggong Liuquan, and according to the basic moral principle, human remains should be returned to the country of origin. The Netherlands returned a mummified body of a 19th century Maori chief to New Zealand in 2005. Four years later, it returned the severed head of King Badu Bonsu II to his homeland Ghana. Also, several British institutions returned the skulls and other bones of Aborigines to Australia in 2009.

Besides, the mummified monk has become part of the common memory of the local people after being worshiped for almost a millennium. People’s strong attachment with the statue will help win international sympathy, and diplomatic efforts and amicable negotiations can make it possible for China to get the statue back.

China, a country with thousands of years of history and cultural heritage, has lost more than 16 million cultural objects. To bring them back, the Chinese government has to deepen cooperation with countries that are major destinations for illegal trade in cultural relics and skillfully apply international rules and foreign laws. And to preserve the ones that it has, the government should strengthen registration and management of all cultural objects across the country, not just the most valuable ones.

The author is a fellow with the research office of Shunyi district people’s court in Beijing