BEIJING (AFP)
He had hoped to attend an October show at the Hirshhorn Museum in
Washington and take up an invitation to teach in Berlin.
But last Thursday police told him that unresolved cases involving
accusations of spreading pornography, practising bigamy and
conducting illegal foreign exchange transactions supported the
overseas travel ban.
"These three things are just an excuse not to give me the right
to go outside China," he said.
The pornography charges stem from what he called a joke after he
challenged two groups of visitors to take nude photos with him,
which were posted online.
He is married, but had a relationship with another woman -- cited
by authorities as bigamy -- with whom he had a child, and
officials have threatened they could detain him again.
"They are used to doing things this way," said Ai, who is
technically allowed to travel within China outside his home city
of Beijing, but whose passport is being held by authorities.
He described the move as revenge against him, but said it would
also hurt China which is seeking to build soft power through
spreading culture abroad.
"China's policy has always emphasised soft power. This will stop
China's cultural exchanges and projects," he said.
Ai has previously riled the ruling Communist Party with
high-profile investigations into the collapse of schools in the
2008 Sichuan earthquake and into a 2010 fire at a Shanghai
high-rise that killed dozens of people.
Shanghai later demolished Ai's newly built studio in the
commercial hub and he was beaten by police in Sichuan after he
tried to testify on behalf of another activist who investigated
the school issue.
Ai said his desire to travel overseas did not necessarily mean he
would choose a life in exile, like many other Chinese dissidents.
"This is not to say I must leave China," he said.
Asked about the case of blind activist Chen Guangcheng, who left
for the United States to study in May after taking refuge in the
US embassy, Ai replied: "I don't like the US embassy because the
structure is too ugly," referring to the fortress-like compound
in Beijing.
He is now challenging the tax evasion charges and a
multi-million-dollar penalty brought against Beijing Fake
Cultural Development Ltd., a company he set up but which is
registered in his wife's name.
A court hearing last week lasted more than nine hours and a
ruling is expected by early August.
Ai compared the court fight to how Chinese authorities reportedly
used to charge the families of executed criminals for the
bullets.
"It doesn't matter how wrong they are, they put all the cost on
you -- cost of money, cost of energy, passion and your will. It's
wasted because you cannot deal with this big machine."
He hopes for change, but he questions how much his activism has
been able to accomplish. "According to logic, there should be
change because this society has already reached a time when it
must change," he said.
But he added: "It's like (being) against the wall. I have raised
consciousness, that's all."
