Britain has denied Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei (艾未未) a six-month visa and restricted him to a three-week trip because he did not declare a “criminal conviction” in his application, he cited an embassy official as saying yesterday.
The decision prompted outrage online and condemnation from rights groups.
China’s best known contemporary artist abroad, Ai was detained for 81 days in 2011 amid a crackdown on government critics, but not formally charged with a crime.
A company run by his wife and listing him as an employee was fined US$2.4 million the following year after losing a civil legal battle against tax authorities, proceedings widely seen as a reprisal for Ai’s outspoken criticism of the Chinese Communist Party.
Ai posted a letter on Instagram apparently from the visa section of the British embassy in Beijing saying it was “a matter of public record that you have previously received a criminal conviction in China, and you have not declared this,” adding he had “exceptionally” been granted a visa for a 20-day period in September.
Any future application he made should be completed “as accurately as possible,” the letter said, warning him that he faced a 10-year ban if he did not comply.
Ai said in a separate Instagram post he had “never been charged or convicted of a crime.”
He said he had attempted to clarify the situation with British authorities, “but the representatives insisted on the accuracy of their sources and refused to admit any misjudgement.”
“This decision is a denial of Ai Weiwei’s rights as an ordinary citizen,” he added.
The visa he was granted would ensure that Ai can attend a show of his work at London’s Royal Academy of Arts in September, when his absence would have generated negative headlines.
However, it means he will not be in Britain when Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) pays a high-profile state visit in October.
Maya Wang (王瑪雅), China researcher for US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch, said the British government “appears not to have done its homework.”
Ai had never been formally charged or convicted, she said, adding that his detention and the tax case had been “politically motivated” by “the Chinese government’s worldview, which considers rights activists as criminals worthy of punishment.”
Prominent Chinese Internet freedom advocate Michael Anti was among many who condemned the move, writing on Twitter: “Shame for UK Government!”
Britain’s Home Office said in a statement that visa applications were considered “on their individual merits and in line with the relevant legislation,” adding: “Mr Ai has been granted a visa for the full duration of his requested dates of travel.”
Ai said last week that Germany granted him a four-year multiple entry visa. Lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan (劉曉原), a close friend of the artist, posted a picture of Ai boarding a Lufthansa flight apparently en route to Germany yesterday.
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