A company China says is controlled by artist Ai Weiwei (艾未未) was accused of massive tax evasion in the government’s clearest disclosure yet about its investigation of the activist detained for more than six weeks.
The investigation also found Beijing Fake Cultural Development had intentionally destroyed accounting documents, Xinhua news agency said on Friday, citing unidentified police investigators. The brief report gave no other details and did not quantify the “huge amount” of tax the company is accused of not paying.
Ai’s family and supporters have previously dismissed similar accusations, and his wife, Lu Qing (路青), says the company in question is registered and belongs to her, not him. The company handles the business aspects of his art career.
Ai is among China’s best-known artists internationally and helped design the iconic Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium. Famed for his groundbreaking art and irreverence toward authority, he was picked up at Beijing’s airport on April 3 and is being held under a form of detention known as residential surveillance somewhere outside Beijing.
His detention has prompted an international outcry and Western leaders have called it a sign of China’s deteriorating human rights. His family and supporters say he is being punished for speaking out about the communist leadership and social problems.
Hundreds of lawyers, activists and other intellectuals in China have disappeared or been questioned or detained by authorities since February, when online calls for protests similar to those in the Middle East and North Africa began to circulate.
Before he disappeared, Ai had been keeping an informal tally of the recent detentions on Twitter.
Ai has also spoken critically about a number of national scandals, including the deaths of students in shoddily built schools that collapsed during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, children killed or sickened by tainted infant formula and a deadly high-rise fire in Shanghai that killed 58 people and was blamed on negligent workers and corrupt inspectors.
Ai’s studio home has been searched, with documents and computers seized, and his wife has been questioned by the tax bureau regarding Beijing Fake Cultural Development.
Lu was permitted to see Ai on Sunday last week for a brief, monitored meeting that was his first contact with the outside world in 43 days.
Tax evasion allegations against Ai were published last month by Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po newspaper, which said he was also being investigated for bigamy because he has a young son with a woman other than his wife and that he is suspected of spreading pornography online.
China’s Foreign Ministry said previously Ai is under investigation for economic crimes and has accused those complaining about his detention of trampling on China’s legal sovereignty.
Australia has announced an agreement with the tiny Pacific nation Nauru enabling it to send hundreds of immigrants to the barren island. The deal affects more than 220 immigrants in Australia, including some convicted of serious crimes. Australian Minister of Home Affairs Tony Burke signed the memorandum of understanding on a visit to Nauru, the government said in a statement on Friday. “It contains undertakings for the proper treatment and long-term residence of people who have no legal right to stay in Australia, to be received in Nauru,” it said. “Australia will provide funding to underpin this arrangement and support Nauru’s long-term economic
ANGER: Unrest worsened after a taxi driver was killed by a police vehicle on Thursday, as protesters set alight government buildings across the nation Protests worsened overnight across major cities of Indonesia, far beyond the capital, Jakarta, as demonstrators defied Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s call for calm. The most serious unrest was seen in the eastern city of Makassar, while protests also unfolded in Bandung, Surabaya, Solo and Yogyakarta. By yesterday morning, crowds had dispersed in Jakarta. Troops patrolled the streets with tactical vehicles and helped civilians clear trash, although smoke was still rising in various protest sites. Three people died and five were injured in Makassar when protesters set fire to the regional parliament building during a plenary session on Friday evening, according to
‘NEO-NAZIS’: A minister described the rally as ‘spreading hate’ and ‘dividing our communities,’ adding that it had been organized and promoted by far-right groups Thousands of Australians joined anti-immigration rallies across the country yesterday that the center-left government condemned, saying they sought to spread hate and were linked to neo-Nazis. “March for Australia” rallies against immigration were held in Sydney, and other state capitals and regional centers, according to the group’s Web site. “Mass migration has torn at the bonds that held our communities together,” the Web site said. The group posted on X on Saturday that the rallies aimed to do “what the mainstream politicians never have the courage to do: demand an end to mass immigration.” The group also said it was concerned about culture,
CRACKDOWN: The Indonesian president vowed to clamp down on ‘treason and terrorism,’ while acceding to some protest demands to revoke lawmaker benefits Protests in Indonesia over rising living costs and inequality intensified overnight, prompting Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to cancel a planned trip to China, while demonstrators reportedly targeted the homes of the finance minister and several lawmakers. Rioters entered Indonesian Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati’s residence near Jakarta early yesterday, but were repelled by armed forces personnel, Kompas reported. Items were taken from the homes of lawmaker Ahmad Sahroni and two others, according to Detik.com. The reports of looting could not be independently verified, and the finance ministry has not responded to requests for comment. The protests were sparked by outrage over
RSS