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detention of artist Ai Weiwei

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  1. #11

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    I just wanted to say that he is one of the great modern artists of our time and hope the PRC Police release him as soon as possible.

    His installation of sunflower seeds at the Tate is absolutely brilliant.

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  2. #12

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    I think I may have read a piece about him in a recent issue of a fortnightly magazine. Real shame putting him away like this. My, how they fear him.


  3. #13

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    It's not just him, over 100 dissidents and human rights activists / lawyers have been detained or arrested in recent weeks. After recent events in the middle east (and subsequent calls for a Jasmine revolution in China) it's not just fear, Beijing are positively shitting themselves and are in the middle of a panic crackdown.

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  4. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by jaykay:
    It's not just him, over 100 dissidents and human rights activists / lawyers have been detained or arrested in recent weeks. After recent events in the middle east (and subsequent calls for a Jasmine revolution in China) it's not just fear, Beijing are positively shitting themselves and are in the middle of a panic crackdown.
    This is true, and to some extent shows the weakness of the regime when there is so much panic generated from a few nameless posts calling for a jasmine revolution.

  5. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by drumbrake:
    This is true, and to some extent shows the weakness of the regime when there is so much panic generated from a few nameless posts calling for a jasmine revolution.
    I'm not surprised, look at the panic generated from the mis-information about salt and radioactivity...

  6. #16

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    It is quite ironic that by detaining him they risk of making the Bird's Nest the national symbol of revolution!


  7. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Football16:
    While I don't agree with jailing dissidents I don't get this statement from this story. The Sichuan earthquake cover up. The President and Premier did a number of trips there with media entourages. Not sure how it is a cover up.

    "And then there is the earthquake. Counting, naming and honoring the thousands of schoolchildren who died in Sichuan in May 2008 became an obsession for Weiwei and his Factory-like studio—especially since the government, fearful of local unrest and anger, wanted to make the whole episode go away. That impulse to cover up, obfuscate and crush dissent steeled Weiwei's anger: "

    There is a lot of very slanted western journalists that make it look like China is scary.




    Premier Wen Jiaobao was there a number of times IIRC.

    President Hu Jin Tao visits also:

    [chinatoday] President Hu Jintao Visit Sichuan Earthquake Hit Regions

    Now this is all in English but cover up? He was there 5 days!

    In 2009 the PRC gov't -

    "The government will release its first white paper on disaster prevention and reduction on May 12, declared the country's first national disaster prevention day."

    "The China Meteorological Administration will train 1 million people in rural areas to ensure every village has the information needed to combat weather-related disasters, center vice-director Xu Xiaofeng said."

    Public must be 'ready against disasters'
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  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by MovingIn07:
    If he had the rights to leave the country, why didn't he leave long ago? Sounds like a risky life staying as a critic in China.
    He is clearly an outstanding guy whose intent is to change China for the better, not escape it for his own safety.
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  9. #19

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    It gets worse, China is simply hardening its attitude. From RTHK:

    China attacks West over detained artist

    06-04-2011
    A mainland newspaper has attacked Western governments for demanding the release of detained artist Ai Weiwei, saying he had tested the bounds of Chinese law and would pay the price. The editorial in the Global Times was the first comment by state-controlled media on the controversy.

    It said Western governments were using his case to attack China's human rights record, despite not knowing what might have happened to the artist or what laws he could have violated. The paper said Western critics were "vehemently" launching critical attacks against China, in a hasty assault on the country's judicial sovereignty.

    The paper suggested that Mr Ai had been testing the bounds of official tolerance. "Ai himself probably understands that by doing whatever he pleases, and often daring to do what others dare not, while drawing together others like him, he often strays close to the red lines of Chinese law," it said.

    "So long as Ai Weiwei is constantly charging forward, it's very likely that one day he will hit the boundary. History will render its own verdict on people like Ai Weiwei, and before then they may pay some price for their own special choices," the paper warned.
    I really regret that China was given the Olympics in 2008. They said the event would help to foster a more open China. It was all lies.

  10. #20

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    I wonder who would 'disappear' in Hong Kong if we didn't have one country two systems. Probably Lee Cheuk-yan and Leung Kwok-hung for starters.

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