Chinese artefacts in repatriation row were 'given willingly' to British Museum

The British Museum boasts one of the biggest collections of Chinese antiquities in the west, but it has faced repeated calls to return them to China. Now historical documents reveal that many of the antiquities were acquired with the full cooperation of Chinese officials in the last century. US historian Justin Jacobs has unearthed evidence that shows the Chinese government "willingly and enthusiastically helped them remove these treasures from their lands" because they wanted closer ties with the west and appreciated new scholarship. He said: "These things did not have priceless valuations that we project on to them today... I…