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Measured response greets Ai Weiwei release

— PHOTO: AFP

Outspoken: Chinese artist Ai Weiwei (right) speaks to reporters outside his studio in Beijing on Thursday.

BEIJING: The unexpected release of renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei on Wednesday evening after detention of more than two months was greeted cautiously by activists and rights groups, with Mr. Ai likely to face continuing restrictions. Mr. Ai, who is China's most famous artist and came into the international spotlight following his role in designing Beijing's Bird's Nest Olympics stadium, was detained in April after his company was accused of tax evasion.

Beijing police authorities said on Wednesday evening Mr. Ai had been released “because of his good attitude in confessing his crimes” and after he had expressed “willingness to pay the taxes he evaded”, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Mr. Ai's associates said it was the artist's increasingly outspoken criticism of the government that was behind his detention.

In recent months, he had clashed with the authorities over his involvement in a campaign to investigate the deaths of schoolchildren in the 2008 earthquake that struck Sichuan, amid accusations of widespread irregularities in the construction of schools. Mr. Ai's detention came amid a tightening of restrictions on activists and civil society groups in China, with more than two dozen scholars and lawyers being either detained or placed under effective house arrest. One of them, the legal scholar Fan Yafeng, described the crackdown as one of the worst Chinese civil society had faced in two decades.

I am glad: artist

Late on Wednesday, Mr. Ai briefly appeared outside his Beijing studio, telling reporters he was glad to be reunited with his family but unable to speak about his detention, a likely condition for his release.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said on Thursday Mr. Ai would not be allowed to travel. He was released after “obtaining a guarantee pending a trial” — an equivalent of bail — which could extend up to one year.

Mr. Ai's release came on the eve of Premier Wen Jiabao's departure to the United Kingdom and Germany. In recent weeks, European diplomats had strongly hit out at Mr. Ai's detention and had called for his immediate release. While other western diplomats and artists welcomed his release, Chinese activists struck a more cautious note, rejecting suggestions that this marked any change in official policy. One pointed out that only a few hours after Mr. Ai's release, Xu Zhiyong, the head of a legal rights group, had been detained. While the calls generated little response, authorities took the threat seriously. One scholar told The Hindu it was unlikely that Mr. Wen's European visit had any connection to Mr. Ai's release adding that restrictions on civil society would likely continue until 2012, when a new administration was set to take over from President Hu Jintao and Mr. Wen.

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