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On Nov 29th, the famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's wife
Lu Qing was summoned by the Beijing police, who told her that she was forbidden to leave China.
On the same day, one of Ai Weiwei's lawyers, Pu Zhiqiang's
law firm was also examined by the police.
Some people believe that both events can be regarded as a
threat from the CCP due to Ai Weiwei's tax evasion case.
Four policemen took Lu Qing to the Nangao police station
with summons and interrogated her for three hours there.
This time Lu Qing was treated as a "criminal suspect",
not a "witness."
She was questioned about family members,
personal information and the company's ongoing projects.
The police also warned her that she could not leave China
in the near future.
Ai Weiwei's mother Gao Ying said that the CCP intentionally
made Lu Qing a criminal suspect just to prevent her from visiting Taiwan.
(Gao Ying):"This event has continued since April of this year,
and finally a new label was imposed upon Lu Qing.
By doing this the CCP can restrict her freedom to visit abroad,
otherwise they don't have any reason to do that, right?
It's clear that they just don't want her to visit Taiwan."
According to Lu Qing's original plan, she would visit an
exhibit of Ai Weiwei's work in Taipei on Nov 3rd.
Gao Ying said that on Nov 1st Ai Weiwei received payment
demands for back taxes and fines on his company from Beijing Taxation Bureau.
As the legal representative of the company, Lu Qing had to
cancel her plans to stay in China to deal with the trouble.
It resulted in Ai Weiwei collecting donations from more than
30,000 netizens and managed to submit the security deposit before the Nov 16th deadline.
Lu Qing then decided to leave for Taiwan in early December.
(Chinese lawyer Li Tiantian):"It is legal for the police
to summon a criminal suspect or witness for questioning,
but it's illegal to restrict personal freedom only by
an oral warning. There's no legislative authority for that."
On the same day Lu Qing was summoned,
one of Ai Weiwei's lawyers in his tax evasion case,
Pu Zhiqiang of Beijing Huayi Law Firm was also visited
by the police, who probed their account documents.
Pu Zhiqiang said in an interview that the police visited
his law firm on Nov 29th.
They requested the account books, photocopied this year's
documents, and took them away.
When the media asked whether this event is related to
Ai Weiwei's tax case, Pu Zhiqiang answered that he had no idea because he was not at the firm when the police came.
NTD TV has called Pu Zhiqiang for an interview.
(Pu Zhiqiang):"I have nothing to say. So let's stop here, all right?"
Chinese lawyer Li Tiantian believes that, the CCP government
wants to retaliate against those who have helped Ai Weiwei.
(Li Tiantian):"The CCP tries to retaliate against the lawyer
who has helped Ai Weiwei's company.
They are searching for materials that might trouble his law firm."
Pu Fei, a volunteer from China Tianwang Human Rights
questioned why, of all the law firms in Beijing, the police only chose Huayi Law Firm as their target.
He believes that this is a warning, or threatening action,
from the Beijing police.
On the other hand, Ai Weiwei's mother said Pu Zhiqiang is a
lawyer with great courage.
(Gao Ying):"As a lawyer, he really has a lot of courage,
otherwise he wouldn't be able to help Ai Weiwei in his case.
There have been numerous lawyers suppressed by the CCP
government, so their job is a rather dangerous one."
Recently, Ai Weiwei was ranked 18th on the list of 2011 Top
100 Global Thinkers published by the U.S magazine Foreign Policy.
The magazine wrote that "Ai Weiwei persists in challenging the
CCP regime even after being put into detention," which points out his outstanding merits.
The exhibit titled "Ai Weiwei-Absence" has been held at
Taipei Fine Arts Museum since October 29th.
The ROC president, Ma Ying-jeou, visited the exhibit and, in a
speech, addressed the human rights condition in mainland China.
The president of some Taiwan human rights agencies said that
they were planning a press conference to urge Ma Ying-jeou to invite Ai Weiwei and his wife to Taiwan.
NTD reporters Li Yun and Zhou Ping
《神韵》2011世界巡演新亮点
http://www.ShenYunPerformingArts.org/ |