Archaeologists are revising the nation's laws and regulations on underwater salvage to bring them into line with the UN convention on underwater cultural heritage protection as a first step toward eventually joining it, said Zhang Wei, head of the Underwater Archeological Center at the National Museum of China. The center is the country's only specialized organization in this field.
As more and more treasure hunters make huge profits out of ancient sunken vessels, Chinese experts are asking other countries to join in the agreement as soon as possible.
"That's because the convention is the only way that these underwater treasures can be saved," said He Xuzhong, an official with the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. The convention, passed in November 2001, has very few members and has largely been ineffective so far.
Treasure hunters have not slowed their activities in recent years, and the South China Sea is an especially popular destination.
One of the busiest international sea lanes in ancient times, the region is estimated to have more than 2,000 ancient boats resting on its ocean floor, according to China's Underwater Archaeology Center.
In 1985, British treasure hunters reportedly salvaged 250,000 pieces of porcelain and other treasures from an ancient Chinese boat that sank in the South China Sea in 1752.
In 1999, a treasure hunter salvaged at least 1 million pieces of porcelain from another Chinese boat that sank in the same region during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
According to the Beijing-based Global Times, the salvagers reaped more than US$10 million from the two boats over two decades.
Last year, a US-based salvage operation took more than 10,000 pieces of porcelain from the region and shipped all the prizes back to the United States.
Earlier this month, workers on a Vietnamese fishing boat placed 1,700 pieces of porcelain up for sale at an auction. The pieces were salvaged from an ancient Chinese boat several years ago in the same area.
The International Council on Monuments and Sites reported that commercial operations in the past 50 years have damaged the underwater relic sites in varying degrees.
A researcher with China Underwater Archaeology Center, who requested anonymity, explained that treasure hunters do not care about the sites and simply take whatever they think will draw a good price.
"But underwater archaeologists have to record everything they see in the water, and videotape the items or take pictures in order to show people the reality of the site," the researcher said.
Treasure hunters have even deliberately broken a number of salvaged porcelains in order to raise the prices of the rest.
Illegal treasure hunters' ham-handed pillaging has resulted in huge losses to humankind's common interests in gleaning value from the ocean, a UN expert quoted by Beijing-based magazine Lifeweek said.
The UN convention would make commercial salvage or removing items from ancient boats at underwater sites illegal.
Although it still lacks legal force, the UN expert noted that the convention can arouse the attention of the public and member countries toward protecting underwater cultural heritage.
China enacted a regulation on underwater archaeology in 1989.
"But the regulation is not consistent with the convention on a number of points, such as the issue of ownership of discovered treasures," said Zhang Wei.
At present, Zhang and his fellows are revising the regulation. "We hope the draft can be completed by the end of this year," Zhang said.
Neither Zhang nor He Xuzhong with the State Administration of Cultural Heritage would predict when China will likely join the convention formally. However, both said more countries should join the convention soon.
"Stopping treasure hunters' random looting is not only the duty of Chinese, but the duty of the world. Countries should join hands to protect civilization together," Zhang said.
(China Daily March 16, 2004)
