Chinese artist to sue over ‘unsuitable’ war monument erected among his sculptures

A Chinese artist is planning to sue local authorities in southwestern China for erecting a monument among his sculptures in a historical site, “spoiling their overall aesthetic appeal”.

Li Chunhua had in 2013 donated 402 sculptures of Chinese Expeditionary Force soldiers to Longling county in Yunnan province. But the local government erected a monument among them the following year, The Beijing News reported.

Li said he planned to bring a suit against the local authorities, after he failed to persuade them to stop erecting the monument or to change their design plan, the report said.

The sculptures, covering an area of 8,400 square metres, are located at the site of the Songshan Military Campaign battlefield, where the Chinese troops battled the Japanese Army in the 1940s.

Li said he took two-and-a-half years to complete the sculptures, said to be worth more than 8 million yuan (HK$9 million).