The Relevance of ADR Processes in China's Transnational Efforts for the Return of Its Looted Cultural Property

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes can be relevant where claims span state boundaries such as Chinese repatriation claims for the return of cultural property from foreign individuals, institutions and states. This article explores China's use of ADR processes for its claims. We will learn that ADR processes can be expansive and that China uses various ADR processes, alone or in combination with other processes, including negotiation at state, institutional and individual levels, diplomacy, expert determination and has, in the past, also received the benefit of self-help mechanisms such private donations by wealthy Chinese benefactors who purchased Chinese cultural property and donated the acquisition to Chinese authorities. Underlying all these approaches is negotiation, a primacy of the ADR canon and a process China uses in varying contexts to successfully reclaim and receive its cultural property.