Hong Kong -For the second time in two days, an international auction house defied China and protesters to sell Chinese art objects believed to have been looted from an imperial palace 140 years ago.
Despite Beijing's warnings, Sotheby's went ahead with the sale yesterday of a hexagonal porcelain vase that fetched US$2.44 million. The Qing dynasty vase was believed to have been taken from the Yuan Ming Palace when it was ransacked by British and French troops in 1860.