Will Cai Mingchao, the Chinese auctioneer who sabotaged the sale of the Qing Dynasty rat head and rabbit head (pictured below) at Christie's in Paris last week, still be celebrated as a patriot when it is discovered that one of his two under-bidders was planning to give the bronzes to China?rnThe Chinese government had tried to block the sale of the antiquities with official complaints and an nth-hour legal challenge. When it failed, Mr Cai took it upon himself to secure both bronze pieces, but then announced he was refusing to pay for them as a mark of politi- cal protest.rnNow The Economist has dis- covered that a London-based Chinese businessman who bid up to €12m ($15.1m) on both pieces was attempting to buy one of them as a gift for China. With Mr Cai's pirate move, however, the controversy has escalated and the bronzes have become too hot to touch.
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机译：上周在巴黎佳士得拍卖行（Christie's）破坏了清代鼠头和兔子头（下图）的中国拍卖师蔡明超（Wai Cai Mingchao），仍被视为爱国者，因为发现他的两个竞标者之一是计划将青铜器交给中国？中国政府曾试图通过官方投诉和第n个小时的法律诉讼来阻止古物的出售。失败后，蔡先生承担起保护这两个青铜器的重任，但随后宣布他拒绝为政治抗议的标志而付钱。rn现在，经济学家发现一位驻伦敦的中国商人这两件作品的出价都高达1200万欧元（合1510万美元），试图购买其中一件作为礼物送给中国。但是，随着蔡先生的海盗行动，争议不断升级，青铜变得太热而无法触摸。
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