Ai Wei Wei’s Detention
As it has been previously reported by several news sources (including the London Telegraph on Apr 6, 2011) Ai Wei Wei, the Chinese artist and activist, was detained by authorities in April 2011 at Beijing Airport where he was about to board a flight to Hong Kong.
Mr. Ai was a collaborating architect on the Beijing National Stadium - “the Bird’s Nest” built for the 2008 Olympic Games. Mr. Ai has long been a social activist along with Liu Xiobao, the imprisoned 2010 Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Together they have shed light on government corruption.
Since then Wei Wei was released which some observers maintain was a matter of China bowing to international pressure on human rights, especially from its largest trading partner, the European Union, as the Chinese government had ramped up a crackdown on critics and dissidents in an attempt to muzzle calls for protests in the wake of Jasmine “revolution” in North Africa. During this time, President Obama praised China in a number of stump speeches touting the communist regime’s economic success evidenced in part by the construction of modern high rises and infrastructure in cities like Beijing and Szechuan.
In so doing, Mr. Obama failed to mention the detention of Mr. Ai, the religious oppression of Tibetan Buddhists or Xinjiang Muslims, the fact that a majority of the Chinese people outside its major cities live in dire poverty, as well as the poor status of human rights throughout China while he most recently expressed sympathy for the anti-capitalist OWS movement which is supported by the likes of the SEIU and George Soros, the international currency trader who was convicted by French authorities for insider trading violations (a conviction that was upheld according to the London Telegraph on October 7, 2011). Both the SEIU and Mr. Soros backed Mr. Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and will have a hand in his re-election bid.
Ai Wei Wei’s Exhibit in Taiwan
Now, the outspoken Mr. Ai has opened an art exhibit in Taiwan in absentia that focuses on the political significance of his inability to attend, entitled “Mr. Ai Absent” at Taipei's Fine Arts Museum, according to the Associated Foreign Press.
A show pamphlet contains a message from Mr. Ai where he writes that his absence "is a part of my art, my portfolio and my cultural state" while the communist leaders contend that Wei Wei is being detained on tax evasion charges and that he owes the regime more than $2 million. The new exhibit of 21 works is said to include provocative photographs of oppressed and poor people, sculpture representing the Chinese zodiac, as well as a new piece created by Mr. Ai consisting of 1,000 bicycles piled in layers that apparently expresses his feelings on the rapid pace of Chinese social change.
But the key issue here is that the exhibit might also be a tacit political support for Taiwan, a tiny island nation in the South China sea that revolted and split from China after the 1949 civil war even though Beijing claims the island is part of its territory, despite the long standing support of Taiwan’s sovereignty by the US government.
Whether or not Mr. Ai is guilty of tax evasion is unclear and it is uncertain if his new exhibit is intended to show support for the Taiwanese government or to fan the flames of tension between the US and China over America’s policy on Taiwan. But a bigger question is whether Mr. Obama will continue to sing the praises of the Chinese communists in the 2012 presidential election.
Sources
AFP, "Taiwan museum unveils controversial Ai Wei Wei art," Oct 29 2011
Kyle Colona - Kyle Colona is a freelance writer from the New York area with an extensive background in legal and regulatory affairs.
