Theresa May Reverses Ai Weiwei Visa Refusal

Britain’s interior minister ordered officials on Friday to grant Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei a six-month visa, reversing a decision to restrict him to a short trip that had prompted condemnation from rights groups.

Ai said in a separate Instagram post he had “never been charged or convicted of a crime”.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said a letter had been sent to Ai “apologising for the inconvenience caused”.

He added: “We look forward to welcoming him at the Royal Academy for the opening of his major exhibition in September”.

The British decision was “a gesture of either craven capitulation to Beijing or inexcusable ignorance”, said Maya Wang, China researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch.

A company run by his wife and listing him as an employee was fined US$2.4 million (RM9017 million) the following year after losing a civil legal battle against tax authorities, proceedings widely seen as a reprisal for Ai’s outspoken criticism of the ruling Communist party.

The letter says that Ai’s application was denied because it is a “matter of public record” that the artist had received a criminal conviction in China, and that he had failed to disclose that on his visa form.

The Tibetan activist Jigme Ugen has reiterated on Twitter that the artist’s “outrageous” visa denial is connected to Chinese president Xi Jinping’s scheduled state visit to London in October. Having only last week been returned his passport, and with it his freedom to travel, the artist has already come up against a brick wall in exercising that right.

In 2011, the Chinese government said Ai remained under investigation on suspicion of economic crimes after he was released on bail.

Britain’s Home Office said the visa it granted Ai – three weeks starting September 9 – would cover “the full duration of the stay he requested”.

Royal Academy director Tim Marlow told the BBC that Ai was “bemused and irate” at the “irritating bureaucratic mix-up”.

Whether it’s a human rights issue – and Ai has been a constant critic of China’s record on this – it’s going to rumble on as a row.

In 2012, China took offence at Cameron holding a meeting with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing deems a separatist.