China renews attack over art sale

China's Foreign Minister adds his voice to the row over the sale of relics Beijing says were looted in the 19th Century.

Chinese anger over the sale of relics from the estate of late designer Yves Saint Laurent which Beijing says were looted nearly 150 years ago shows no sign of subsiding.

The Chinese Foreign Minister is the latest on the warpath with a stinging attack over Monday's auction in Paris.

SOUNDBITE: Li Zhaoxing, Chinese Foreign Minister, saying (Mandarin):

"You have hurt the dignity of a people who have never done anything to hurt the interests of your mother country. You have gained a lot from this business. Can you feel happy about that? Don't you feel embarrassed, or even pathetic?"

The Beijing Summer Palace from where China says relics were looted by French and British troops in 1860 has only copies of the missing sculptures.

The Yves Saint Laurent pair went under the hammer for a massive 20 million dollars each.

The winning bidder is an advisor to a Chinese fund for looted artworks who says he won't pay up.

Yves Saint Laurent's long-term partner stoked Beijing's anger before the sale by offering the bronzes to China in exchange for human rights improvements and the return home of the exiled Dalai Lama.

France was already the target of Chinese anger after President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader.

Paul Chapman, Reuters