Grip Tightens on China’s Entertainment Industries
At Vanity Fair, May Jeong profiles Chinese movie megastar Fan Bingbing, describing her four-month...
by Samuel Wade | Mar 28, 2019
At Vanity Fair, May Jeong profiles Chinese movie megastar Fan Bingbing, describing her four-month...
by Samuel Wade | Feb 5, 2019
This series is a recap of censorship instructions issued to the media by government authorities in...
by Samuel Wade | Jan 28, 2019
This series is a month-by-month recap of censorship instructions issued to the media by government...
by Josh Rudolph | Nov 19, 2018
The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been...
by Samuel Wade | Oct 26, 2018
The recent vanishings of former Interpol President and Vice Minister for Public Security Meng...
by Samuel Wade | Jun 11, 2018
The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been...
by Samuel Wade | Jul 30, 2015
Last week, Chinese authorities finally returned artist Ai Weiwei’s passport, removing a...
by Scott Greene | Oct 1, 2012
The New York Times reports that officials have revoked the business license of dissident artist Ai Weiwei’s production company, according to an online post by Ai’s lawyer: The move came after a court last week...
by Sophie Beach | Sep 26, 2012
Artist and activist Ai Weiwei’s appeal in his tax evasion case has been rejected, and the fine of US$2.4 million has been upheld. Ai was detained for 81 days in 2011 before authorities announced that his art studio was...
by Samuel Wade | Sep 1, 2012
At Spiegel Online, Ulrike Knöfel profiles provocative Beijing artist Zhao Zhao and two of the gallery owners who have backed him. A former assistant to Ai Weiwei, Zhao appears in the documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry in a...
by Scott Greene | Jul 19, 2012
A court in Beijing’s Chaoyang district has rejected Ai Weiwei’s appeal of a 15 million yuan fine for tax evasion, according to BBC: Supporters say the fine is politically motivated and Mr Ai wanted the court to...
by Scott Greene | Jul 17, 2012
China’s contemporary art scene is on edge, according to The New York Times, ever since authorities detained a German and his Chinese associate in late March for allegedly dodging China’s import tax regime: Mr....
by Samuel Wade | Jun 22, 2012
Writing at The Guardian, Ai Weiwei reflects on his 81-day detention, which ended a year ago today. I often ask myself if I am afraid of being detained again. My inner voice says I am not. I love freedom, like anybody; maybe more...
by Sophie Beach | Jun 19, 2012
The court hearing of artist and activist Ai Weiwei’s case against tax authorities is scheduled for Wednesday in Beijing. In an unexpected move, a Beijing court earlier accepted Ai’s case against tax authorities who...
by Samuel Wade | Apr 19, 2012
Ai Weiwei recently told The Economist that the authorities’ order that he stop surveilling himself was like “Orwell. Or maybe Kafka.” Now, Heller has joined the mix, with the artist’s attempt to sue...
by Samuel Wade | Apr 13, 2012
Artist Ai Weiwei is attempting to sue Beijing tax authorities for illegally obstructing his defence in a $2.4 million tax evasion case. The tax office told him two weeks ago that he would not be allowed to appeal its earlier...
by Samuel Wade | Jan 5, 2012
Beijing authorities have agreed to review the tax evasion case aimed at Ai Weiwei, after some 30,000 supporters helped him pay the required bond last November. From the AFP: “They have two months to review the case. If we...
by Samuel Wade | Nov 29, 2011
Ai Weiwei’s wife, Lu Qing, was questioned at a Beijing police station on Tuesday afternoon, and later released [zh]. The Guardian’s Tania Branigan spoke to Ai, who said that he did not know why she had been summoned:...