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Renowned Artist Ai Weiwei Arrested As China Stomps "Jasmine Revolution"

Kevin Douglas Grant |
April 3, 2011 | 4:50 p.m. PDT

Executive Editor

The man known as China's most controversial artist, Ai Weiwei, has been arrested in Beijing.  For those who know him and follow his work, it was just a matter of time:

"It has long been a question of when, not if, the authorities would haul in the 53-year-old artist, who is outspoken in his criticism of the ruling Communist Party. The Chinese government has arrested dozens of lawyers and writers since February in an attempt to stop protests similar to those seen in the Middle East and North Africa."

As confirmed by The New York Times, China has stepped up its campaign against those critical of the government, reaching into the upper ranks of Chinese society:

"Mr. Ai, 53, the son of a one of the country’s most beloved poets, is an internationally renowned artist, a documentary filmmaker and an architect who helped design the Olympic Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing.  Jennifer Ng, an assistant who accompanied Mr. Ai on Sunday morning, said he was taken away by uniformed officers as the two of them passed through customs at Beijing International Airport." 

Ai is one of more than 20 people, including human rights lawyers, bloggers and activists who have been detained, as part of a counter to the "jasmine revolution", a mostly internet-based movement inspired by Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and the like. The Washington Post reported Ai his no stranger to government torment:

He has been arrested before: In 2009, in the western city of Chengdu, Ai was beaten so badly that he required surgery to have blood drained from his brain. Late last year, he was stopped at Beijing’s airport from flying to South Korea because authorities feared he might go to Oslo to attend the Nobel ceremony for Liu. Liu is in prison, and his wife, Liu Xia, is under house arrest.

Ai was prevented from having a solo exhibition of his work at a Beijing gallery this year, and in January authorities demolished his newly built Shanghai studio. In March, Ai announced that he was opening a studio in Berlin to escape the restraints on artistic freedom in China.

The recent wave of arrests is China's biggest crackdown in a decade. It is being viewed as a fundamentally different type of suppression, however:

“This is not a crackdown in the classic cycle of tightening and loosening,” said Nicholas Bequelin, Hong-Kong based China researcher for Human Rights Watch. “This is an effort by the government to redraw the lines of permissible expression in China, to restrict the most outspoken advocates of global values.”

As frantic families search for information on their missing loved ones, the Chinese government continues to deny any involvement in their disappearances.  Human rights advocates say due process has been completely abandoned, and the Chinese government has told outside bodies including the United Nations not to interfere with its affairs.

Possibly related to his disappearance, Ai was reported last week to be planning a move to Berlin.



 

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