Wow, I didn’t see this one coming: A Chinese collector named Cai Mingchao has come forward, claiming to be the winning bidder of two bronze statues auctioned off last week in Christie’s Yves Saint Laurent auction. But, he says, he doesn’t plan to pay for them.
An adviser to the China’s National Treasures Fund, a nonprofit group that works with the government to repatriate Chinese relics, Cai said his bid was a “patriotic” act. “I think any Chinese citizen would have stood up at that moment. I was merely fulfilling my responsibilities,” he told a press conference on Monday. See a video of Cai’s statement here.