３００億円の毛沢東巻物「半分に切断」　香港で盗難後発見

【香港ＡＦＰ＝時事】香港警察は7日、先月盗難被害にあった、推定300億円以上の価値があるとされる毛沢東自筆の詩の巻物1点が見つかったと発表した。ただし巻物は半分に切られていたという。（写真は香港警察が公表した、盗難後に見つかったが半分に切られた毛沢東自筆の詩の巻物の写真）
　警官らは、巻物を扱った人物が「展示しにくい」と判断し、半分に切ったと説明している。
　巻物は先月、中国人収集家の符春暁氏のアパートから盗まれていた。符氏によると、３人組の窃盗犯が推定５０億香港ドル（約６８０億円）の骨董（こっとう）品多数を奪って逃走。被害額は香港で発生した盗難事件としては史上最大とみられる。
　盗難品は古切手や中国本土の文化大革命時代の品などで、毛筆で詩が書かれたこの巻物は推定３億ドル（約３２０億円）と盗品の中で最も価値の高いものだった。
　警察は事件に関し、盗品の取り扱い、窃盗、犯罪ほう助の容疑で３人を逮捕したと発表。現在逃走中の残る２人の容疑者も特定したとしている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/10/08-10:37）

A stolen poetry scroll written by Mao Zedong and valued at hundreds of millions of dollars has been recovered, Hong Kong police said Wednesday -- but not before it was cut in half.
Officers said someone handling the thieved artefact had given it the chop after judging it too difficult to display.
The calligraphy scroll -- worth an estimated US$300 million -- was the most valuable item taken in a brazen robbery last month targeting the Hong Kong apartment of Chinese collector Fu Chunxiao.
The gang of three made off with a hoard of treasures worth, according to Fu, an estimated HK$5 billion ($645 million) that included antique stamps and revolutionary items from mainland China in what is believed to be the city's biggest heist by value.
On Wednesday, police announced they had recovered the Mao scroll and two bronze coins. But the scroll had suffered devastating damage.
Someone claimed that (the scroll) was too difficult to display because it was too long so it was cut in half, Senior Superintendent Tony Ho told reporters.
Police said one person was arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods, another for burglary and the third for assisting a criminal.
The robbery itself was remarkably simple.
The thieves walked into the 16-storey residential building, prised open an iron gate and burst through a wooden door to get inside the apartment, before making off via the same route with the goods, police said at the time.
On Wednesday investigators said earlier appeals for public information had helped them track down a taxi driver who helped them identify key suspects and locations.
Police believe they have identified the remaining two thieves, who are currently at large.