MONTEMOR-O-NOVO, Portugal (AP) 鈥� Dissident Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei is taking heart from recent public protests in China over the authorities鈥� strict COVID-19 policy, but he doesn鈥檛 see them bringing about any significant political change.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 possible,鈥� he told The Associated Press in an interview at his home in Portugal.
The recent that has questioned Beijing鈥檚 authority 鈥� going so far as to demand President Xi Jinping鈥檚 resignation in what have been the boldest protests in decades 鈥� is 鈥渁 big deal,鈥� Ai acknowledges. But it is unlikely to go further, he says.
Challenges to Chinese Communist Party rule with whatever degree of brutality is required. Ai points, for example, to how Beijing cracked down on Hong Kong鈥檚 pro-democracy movement two years ago.
In his view, some 鈥渞ealistic thinking鈥� is required.
鈥淓verything is about control ... to guarantee the whole nation will follow (Xi鈥檚) direction,鈥� the 65-year-old said in the interview Tuesday at his country house about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Lisbon, the Portuguese capital.
His 2020 documentary 鈥淐oronation,鈥� about the lockdown in Wuhan, China, during the COVID-19 outbreak, illustrated the country鈥檚 ruthlessly efficient and brutal official response to the pandemic.
The Chinese government鈥檚 鈥渮ero-COVID鈥� policy included harsh measures that, according to Ai, kept some people confined to their apartments for 100 straight days.
Three grueling years of lockdowns and other severe restrictions, along with Xi鈥檚 scrapping of civil liberties, built up 鈥渢remendous pressure鈥� in Chinese society, Ai says.
The balloon popped on Nov. 25, after at least 10 people died in a fire in an apartment building in China鈥檚 northwest. Though officials denied suggestions that firefighters or victims were blocked by locked doors or other anti-virus controls, the disaster became a focus for public frustration.
Ai sees an inevitability in the public鈥檚 exasperation, and is cheered by the questions it has raised. 鈥淥f course, they start questioning the leadership and the social structure, the political structure,鈥� he said.
Beijing has in recent weeks relaxed some measures, and rolling back some of its harshest pandemic restrictions in an apparent nod to public frustration.
Ai warns, however, that the relatively small protests, some of which have involved just individuals or neighborhoods, shouldn鈥檛 be overstated in a country with a population of 1.4 billion people. And he recalls that the Chinese Communist Party has some 100 million members, all loyal to the regime.
Though 鈥渘ot at all鈥� hopeful of meaningful change in China in the foreseeable future, Ai sees encouraging signs in the protests. They may be, he says, baby steps toward a more distant goal.
鈥淲hat (is) clear is the new generation of young people from China 鈥� students or young workers 鈥� they start to be more clear about what kind of government China is and maybe also (demand) political change,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut that would take a long time.鈥�
He is also gloomy about the muted international response to the clamor for change by some Chinese, seeing foreign governments as more interested in economic relations with Beijing than human rights issues.
Long an outspoken critic of the Chinese government, Ai was detained by the authorities for almost three months in 2011. He has lived in exile since 2015, most recently in the countryside of southern Portugal where he says he has now settled.
He is building a 3,000-square-meter (32,000-square-foot) studio on his land, with a view of the crumbling 13th-century castle of Montemor-o-Novo.
On Saturday, in a show of support for the Chinese protesters, Ai will appear at Speakers鈥� Corner in London鈥檚 Hyde Park. He will give out blank sheets of paper, which have been a symbol of opposition to Beijing鈥檚 censorship, signed with invisible ink.
Barry Hatton, The Associated Press
