Draft Rule Threatens Fossil Excavations in China

摘要

Li Chun was in high spirits: After 3 months of digging in southwestern China's Guizhou Province, he had unearthed a dozen superb fossil specimens. It was 31 December 2001 and Li, a researcher with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropol-ogy (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences here, was returning to his hotel in Xingyi to ring in the New Year. But when Li arrived, police were waiting. They accused the 35-year-old paleontologist of illegal fossil collection and detained him.