I hope the Chinese government is behind these art thefts. I think the Chinese are right to reclaim art that's on display in these European and American museums. We foreigners looted and stole from China - we don't deserve their art.

I've never understood people who collect art and spend millions of dollars on little cups and vases. I would rather decorate my home with art made by people I know that cost me nothing.

This made me think of The Goldfinch. It also made me want to visit China.

I love this part, where the Chinese researcher inquires about some museum artifacts and the different responses from museum people in the US and UK.

“My most troublesome experience was at the Metropolitan Museum in New York,” Liu said. “Everyone was very nervous. They called a Chinese lawyer and gave me the phone so she could tell me that the museum had no items from the Old Summer Palace and that all their items were held via legal means.” (A spokesman for the Met denied that any such call took place.)

Liu says curators in the UK were less defensive. “When I told them these objects were taken, they barely reacted,” Liu said. “They just showed me their records of which generals took what. They're very direct about it. They don't hide it.”

I feel like that captures something pretty real about Americans and British people.