Ai Weiwei

On Tuesday, the renowned Chinese artist and social critic Ai Weiwei handed over almost nine million yuan (1.3 million US dollars) to the authorities in order to clear the way for an appeal against a massive tax bill.

Beijing Fake Cultural Development, a company that he founded but which is now owned by his wife, is accused of evading taxes. However, Ai Weiwei insists that these allegations are a politically-motivated attempt to silence him.

'Illegal and unreasonable'

The money paid by Ai to the Chinese authorities was donated to him by over 30,000 supporters. He has said he will return the money as soon as the case is over, although he is pessimistic about his appeal chances.

"The whole procedure, up till today, every step has been illegal and unreasonable," Ai told the press after depositing the bond, which only clears the way for an appeal. He still has to pay a fine of over 6.6 million yuan.

Ai has been plagued by these allegations since being released from 81 days of uncharged police detention in June. He was told his release was on condition that he pay his "outstanding taxes."

In October he was issued a legal notice in which he was listed as the "actual controller" of his company, Fake Studio, and his wife Lu Qing was the legal owner, and asked to pay 15 million yuan in unpaid taxes.

"That’s a great deal of money," Ai told Deutsche Welle earlier this month. "I ask myself how the authorities can issue such demands without launching and completing the relevant legal proceedings and other such formalities. I don't understand it."

Defying the ban

Another condition of his release was that Ai Weiwei would not be allowed to give interviews to the international media, however he has gone against this stipulation many times. He is now even allowed to leave Beijing without permission.

Ai Weiwei said that the authorities had rejected his offer on Tuesday to put up 8.5 million yuan in collateral against the tax evasion charge and threatened to refer his case to police. He told the media that the government wanted the money to be paid directly to them.

"They are discussing putting the money directly into their account, but it is all very bureaucratic... They threatened to kick the ball to police," said Ai.

If all goes to plan, he and his lawyers should have two months to appeal.

Author: Shamil Shams (AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Anne Thomas