China has not established the rule of law and if there is a power above the law there is no social justice. Everybody can be subjected to harm. I'm just a citizen: my life is equal in value to any other. But I'm thankful that when I lost my freedom so many people shared feelings and put such touching effort into helping me.

This is a quote from a mother whose child died in the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. On 20 June hundreds of Ai's supporters gathered outside the Chaoyang District Court in Beijing despite a small army of police officers some of whom videotaped the crowd and led several people away. On 3 November 2010 Ai said the government had informed him two months earlier that the newly completed studio would be knocked down because it was illegal.

For documentary film about the artist see Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
Ai Weiwei (born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist active in sculpture installation architecture curating photography film and social political and cultural criticism. As a political activist he has been highly and openly critical of the Chinese Government's stance on democracy and human rights. We feel that a selection that is based purely on a political bias and perspective has violated the objectives of the magazine".