Jurisprudential Thinking on Cultural Property Recovery from the Perspective of Cultural Sovereignty

Under complicated and unique history background, the loss of China’s cultural property overseas around the 1920s, especially those from cave temples, not only constitutes the infringement of cultural sovereignty of China, but also brings a series of legal obstacles to the international cultural property recovery. At the domestic level, the lack of evidence for the origin of cultural property, the ambiguity of the legal basis for ownership, and the modern civil law system have posed obstacles to the claim for cultural property. The non-retroactive effect, limited scope of application, flawed design and insufficient enforcement of current international conventions, also fail to provide adequate support for the recovery of cultural property at the level of international law. China should adhere to its cultural sovereignty in the recovery of lost cultural property, with the idea of building a community of shared future for mankind. Through strengthening the investigation of cultural property lost overseas, the basis for recovery could be clarified. It’s also important to develop recovery strategies based on the legal status of various holders. By taking the international cultural property recovery into a coordinate approach to promoting the rule of law at home and in matters involving foreign elements, to improve the rule of law system through legislation, law enforcement and judicial procedure, and to take active participation into the reform of international norms, the formation of a new international order favoring the restitution of cultural property can be eventually achieved.