Palace museum responds to latest cover-up scandal
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Xinhua, August 5, 2011
A palace museum spokesperson said an investigation was underway into an allegation that the museum had covered up four major relics damage accidents following a previous admission that a researcher had broken a masterpiece.
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The 1,000-year-old porcelain plate that was damaged by error during research. |
A researcher accidently damaged a rare thousand-year porcelain dish in the Palace Museum in Beijing's Forbidden City, the museum reported on July 31.
On August 2, "Longcan," the whistleblower who first made the accident public, said in his personal blog that the museum had covered up four major relics damage accidents in recent years.
Following Longcan's allegation, Xinhua called museum spokesperson Feng Naien on Friday. Feng said, "We are losing no time in verifying the allegation, and I will brief you if there are any new developments."
In a telephone interview with Chen Lihua, vice curator of the museum in charge of relics and research, Chen said, "I will not answer this question. I am not in a position to make comments, hope you understand. The museum now has a spokesperson, and you could ask him instead."
The state's top-level celadon-glazed dish, a masterpiece of Ge kiln porcelain from the Song Dynasty (960-1279), was shattered into six parts after a testing instrument was incorrectly operated by a researcher, according to an investigation conducted by the museum after the accident.
