The family of Ai Weiwei, the internationally celebrated artist who was “disappeared” by authorities at Beijing airport on Sunday morning, has published an impassioned missing person’s notice and condemned his treatment as “inhuman”.
As the family entered its 50th hour without a single hint from the Chinese police as to Mr Ai’s whereabouts, his niece told The Times that the “entire family is now in fear”, as concerns grew for the artist’s already fragile health.
“No matter what my uncle did, the authorities should give us an answer,” she said, noting that her own blog site had now been blocked as part of the broader campaign to erase Mr Ai’s name from the country’s biggest websites.
The niece added that the timing of the arrest was especially harsh, as it had taken place during one of the more sombre national holidays: “People are always in low spirits during the Tomb Sweeping holiday, but they chose this moment to take him away, which is so inhuman. All we want now is my uncle back safely,” she said.
Mr Ai’s wife, Lu Qing, told reporters that yet another day had passed without any information or explanation of what police had been looking for when they ransacked his studio. “This time it’s extremely serious,” she said.
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The missing person’s notice, which was posted on China’s biggest microblogging site on Tuesday night but very quickly eradicated by the cyber-censor, came as the unexplained disappearance of Mr Ai threatened to spiral into a diplomatic row.
The embassy of the United States and the delegation of the European Union both issued denunciations of Mr Ai’s arrest and of the increasing use of arbitrary detention to intimidate human rights defenders, lawyers and other activist critics of the Government. At the same time, a petition was started calling for his release.
Although the crackdown on activists and lawyers has been accelerating rapidly over the past six weeks, many view the arrest of Mr Ai as a watershed moment – the arrest of an internationally famous figure whose “activism” consists chiefly of being outspoken in his views.
Friends of Mr Ai’s believe the detention is a clear signal that the authorities will go to any lengths to supress anything with even the slightest whiff of dissent.
Liu Xiaoyuan, a lawyer and friend of Mr Ai, said that international calls for the artist’s release might persuade the authorities to abide more closely with the law.
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“People are astonished that a famous artist like Ai could be taken away and still not have any word about him 48 hours later. The public is in fear. If the authorities don’t follow the rules it will be very difficult for the law to keep its dignity,” he said.