Over the weekend, artist Ai Weiwei, who has been outspoken about Chinese policies, was arrested by Chinese authorities in Beijing. France and Germany have called for his release, as, the Wall Street Journal reports, "his supporters [worry] that he could be charged with subversion or held indefinitely in extra-judicial custody as dozens of other activists have been over a six-week crackdown on dissent." This comes as Ai has a big public art project, Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads, scheduled for NYC next month. Still, his NYC organizer tells City Room, "We’re moving ahead in the same way that we started."
Larry Warsh, of AW Asia, also said, "The works are done, the works are here," but also, "I’m very concerned about him and his safety." Ai has become more politically outspoken; Shanghaiist notes, that he campaigned "for the family of Chen Xiaofeng, a university student run over and killed by the son of an official in the city of Baoding, Hebei, sparking a massive internet meme when the driver shouted 'My father is Li Gang!' while fleeing the scene" and that he "was also highly vocal in his support for Liu Xiaobo," the jailed dissident awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Ai's Shanghainese studio was destroyed last year.
The WSJ explains, "Chinese authorities were thought to have tolerated the artist—who exhibited last year at London's Tate Modern gallery—because of his international profile and because his father, Ai Qing, was one of China's most famous modern poets. They now appear to be widening their crackdown to include China's highest-profile and best-connected government critics, in an indication of how concerned the Communist Party leadership is about the potential for the kind of unrest that has rocked the Arab world this year." Ai was arrested before he was planning on flying to Hong Kong.
Here's Ai's Twitter, in English, which is currently updated by an assistant.
