To survive, China had to open up to the West. It could not survive otherwise. This was after many millions have died of hunger in a country that was like North Korea is today. Once we became part of global competition, we had to agree to some rules. It's painful, but we had to. Otherwise there was no way to survive.

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".