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BEIJING: Artist activist Ai Weiwei accused China's government of showing “contempt for morality and judicial fairness” Wednesday — a day after he was ordered to pay more than $2 million in back taxes.
Ai, whose 81-day disappearance in secretive police custody earlier this year caused an international uproar, has denied owing 15 million yuan ($2.36 million) in back taxes, calling the charge an attempt to quell his activism.
On Wednesday the artist and outspoken government critic, who was been ordered to remain in Beijing and refrain from giving media interviews after his release, used Twitter to condemn the Chinese authorities for their actions.
“They (authorities) have contempt for moral principles and judicial fairness,” Ai posted on Twitter, which is blocked in China.
“All the ministries of this nation, these men and women, have no shame in becoming the tools of persecution of the political power.
“This really goes beyond the power of my imagination. I am shocked, it is a tragedy, I'm powerless,” he wrote in Chinese, accusing China's Communist rulers of attempting to “wipe out dissent” with secret detentions and criminal penalties.
Ai has been given 15 days to settle the bill, which follows his release in June from a period of detention authorities said was over tax evasion but during which he said he was repeatedly interrogated over his calls for human rights.
The 54-year-old globally renowned conceptual artist, who is famous for his part in designing Beijing's “Bird's Nest” Olympic Stadium, told AFP by telephone on Tuesday he had received “no explanation whatsoever” for the tax bill.
Ai's detention in April came as scores of activists and rights lawyers were rounded up by police amid anonymous calls on the Internet for street protests in China similar to those that toppled governments in the Arab world.
The University of the Arts in Berlin has invited the artist to be a guest professor.
Germany's top human rights official Markus Loening said Tuesday the actions against him suggested political critics were being “wilfully persecuted” in China.
