45 officials in Henan punished for failing to prevent grave robberies

Forty-five officials in Anyang, Central China’s Henan Province, were held accountable for not fulfilling their responsibilities in preventing frequent grave robberies at the acclaimed Yinxu site, according to a release from the National Cultural Heritage Administration, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Monday.

Famous for the discovery of oracle bones and early Chinese script, Yinxu was the last capital of the Shang Dynasty (C. 1600 – 1046 BC)

The officials were from the cultural heritage administration in Anyang, the cultural market enforcement department of Anyang and the Yinxu site protection department. They were punished for inadequate supervision of protecting cultural relics and not cracking down on grave robbery cases.

A series of grave robberies happened at the Yinxu site this year. Public security departments have solved 25 grave robbing cases, arrested 140 people for robbing ancient tombs, selling or damaging cultural relics and reclaimed 713 cultural relics, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.

Anyang has now strengthened efforts to protect the Yinxu site. According to a release from the Department of Public Security of Henan, police officers stationed at the Yinxu site are doing 24-hour patrols.

Police in Anyang also remind residents who live in communities nearby to watch out for grave robbers who pretend to be lodgers.