The Role and Challenges of Museums in Cultural Heritage Protection

In the context of globalization, museums, as core institutions for cultural heritage protection, play an increasingly important role in Sino-Western cultural exchanges. This paper focuses on the core functions of museums in cultural heritage protection and the unique challenges they face in the context of Sino-Western cultural dialogue. The study found that museums are not only custodians and researchers of cultural heritage, but also key platforms for promoting cross-cultural understanding. However, the significant differences between Chinese and Western cultures in values, protection concepts and technology applications, as well as issues such as cultural interpretation, intellectual property rights and resource allocation, constitute the main obstacles in museum practice. This paper analyzes these challenges in depth based on specific cases and explores coping strategies, aiming to enhance the ability of museums to effectively protect diverse cultural heritage and promote mutual learning among civilizations in the era of globalization, and to provide reference for building a more inclusive and sustainable cultural heritage protection system.