The mother of detained Chinese artist-activist Ai Weiwei (艾未未) said yesterday she feared the government was preparing to prosecute him for his criticism of the state, while a Chinese newspaper attacked Western governments for urging his release.
The editorial in the Global Times was the first time that state-controlled media have taken up the controversy over Ai, who was stopped on Sunday from boarding a flight from Beijing to Hong Kong and taken away by police. The move drew condemnation from Western governments and Chinese human rights advocates who see the case as marking a deepening crackdown.
“The law will not stray off course or make concessions for some ‘special persons’ because of criticism from the West,” the newspaper said.
Ai, 53, has not been in contact with his family since Sunday.
There is little doubt that Ai, a critic of the Chinese Communist Party and a well-known artist, has joined a list of dozens of dissidents and activists put in detention or informal custody recently.
The Global Times suggested Ai had been testing the bounds of official tolerance.
His mother, Gao Ying (高瑛), said she had been given no information about him, and that the authorities appeared to be gathering a case against him.
“How can a country with laws do this? If someone is detained for 24 hours, you should at least get an explanation. This was a big step, and they certainly took a long time preparing it,” Gao said
“I think they detained him for a reason. If they think they have something, it’s certainly a fixed case, an injustice,” she said. “I think they’ll concoct some things against him.”
The Chinese government’s fears of challenges have been magnified by calls for “Jasmine Revolution” protest gatherings inspired by the political flux across the Middle East and North Africa.
Even feeble efforts to act on those calls were smothered by police, but the threat of protests has triggered an unusually broad crackdown on dissent.
Gao said officials appeared increasingly angry after he used a team of volunteers to make a list of the names of children buried in a devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province in 2008, many in schools that he said were poorly built.
“From that time on, I was always filled with a bit of dread. I felt he was very unsafe,” she said, adding that she had urged him not to throw so much energy into controversial causes.
The Global Times, China’s most popular tabloid said Western governments were using the “maverick” Ai’s case to attack China’s human rights record, even though they had no details about what may have happened to him or what laws he may have violated.
Western critics were “vehemently launching critical attacks against China, and this is a hasty assault on China’s fundamental judicial sovereignty,” it said.
“Ai Weiwei 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,” the editorial said. “So long as Ai Weiwei is constantly charging forward, it’s very likely that one day he will hit the boundary.”
Gao said she had received many calls and messages of support, but did not think the government would heed those voices.
“It won’t have much effect, because China has its own special ways — we’ll do what we like and what can you do about it?” she asked.
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