As artist and activist Ai Weiwei was set to be released from house arrest, he published an op-ed in the Guardian calling on British Prime Minister David Cameron to press China on human rights issues. From a VOA article about the party marking the demolition of Ai’s studio in Shanghai:
Although artist dissident Ai Weiwei was unable to attend a protest party he had planned outside his soon to be demolished studio in Shanghai on Sunday, hundreds of his friends went ahead with the event.
Ai says the fact that the party was still held is a sign of how China is changing. Ai says he thinks the days of people censoring themselves and being afraid have passed. He says many people, especially young people, “can freely show their smiles and have the courage to voice their own opinions.”
Ai’s newly constructed million-dollar studio in Shanghai was ordered to be demolished after allegedly violating land use and construction laws. Ai helped design the Bird’s Nest stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. But the artist frequently has had run-ins with Chinese authorities.
Danwei has comments from people who attended the party.
And from Ai’s Guardian op-ed:
The Communist party benefits the most from China’s so-called development, and despite the economic growth a lot of people still suffer misfortunes. All those problems became even stronger when China was struggling to be the labourer of the world market.
Now all the nations of the developed world are trying to do business with China. Of course, it’s an arrangement in which both sides profit. But on the Chinese side it means more unfairness to labourers and damage to the environment. This kind of business is done through the sacrifice of basic values and human dignity.
People are not looking for mercy, but we think the world has to become unified. You cannot simply give up fundamental beliefs in human rights for a short-term gain.
