(Fill in the missing word in paragraph 5 of the title of Ai Weiwei’s new book “On Censorship”)
Authors: Catarina Demonny and Gerhard May
LONDON, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei’s activist art has made him the most prominent critic of Beijing. As the British Prime Minister visits his home country on Thursday, he said the West should look at its own human rights record before condemning China.
Ai Weiwei told Reuters in an interview in London that he had previously argued that Western leaders visiting China should publicly condemn human rights abuses in China before striking business deals with the world’s second-largest economy.
“But today I completely changed my mind,” Ai Weiwei said. “The West is not even qualified to accuse China. (They must) just examine their record on international human rights, their record on free speech.”
Ai’s comments came as Keir Starmer paid a four-day visit to China, the first by a British leader in eight years, aimed at improving ties despite concerns about espionage and human rights.
Ai Weiwei, who was hosting an event in London for his new book “On Censorship,” said Western leaders raising issues such as human rights, free speech and censorship would be seen as extremely hypocritical and would “make people laugh.”
He pointed to how the West handled the case of Julian Assange, who returned to Australia in June 2024 in a plea deal that ended his prison sentence and capped a 14-year legal battle over the leak of classified U.S. military files.
Starmer said when he arrived in Beijing on Wednesday that he would “raise the human rights issues that need to be raised” with Chinese President Xi Jinping, including the case of former Hong Kong media tycoon and British citizen Jimmy Lai, who was convicted of national security crimes in December.
Ai Weiwei said he has also faced Western scrutiny, including a London gallery’s decision to postpone an exhibition of his in 2023 over social media posts about the war in Gaza.
“I think they (Western leaders) are even ashamed to talk about these things (human rights),” Ai Weiwei said.
Nonetheless, Ai Weiwei said Starmer’s decision to visit China was “rational and pragmatic” based on commercial interests. He called it a “very good move” that would not only benefit the UK but would also be welcomed by China.
(Reporting by Catarina Demoni; Editing by Alison Williams)