Ai Weiwei criticized by China’s ambassador to Britain

In a sign that China’s relations with its most famous visual artist remain frosty at best, the country’s ambassador to Britain has criticized Ai Weiwei in a televised interview this week in which he cast aspersions on Ai’s creative talent and spoke about the artist’s arrest in 2011.

The remarks, which were made during an interview on the BBC, come during a major exhibition of Ai’s work that opened in September at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

In recent years, Ai has drawn significant international media attention for his free-speech activism and public criticism of China’s ruling party.

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In an interview with BBC host Andrew Marr, Liu Xiaoming described Ai as a “so-called artist� and said that there are “so many talented Chinese artists ... many much better than him.�

Liu asserted that Ai is only famous “because he is critical of the Chinese government.� He also claimed that the artist “was never put behind bars� and that he was investigated for economic crimes, including fraudulent accounting and destruction of accounting documents.

Ai was arrested in 2011 and held in secret detention for 81 days. Many of his supporters believe that the arrest and detention stem from the artist’s political activism.

After his release, Ai was forbidden to leave the country. His passport was returned to him earlier this year.

Liu was speaking ahead of a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who arrived in Britain on Monday.

During the interview, Liu was asked about China’s human rights record and about political dissidents who have been jailed for speaking out against government policies.

“No one will be put behind bars simply because they are criticizing the government,� Liu said.

This week, Ai responded to the ambassador’s claims by posting a photograph of tax documents on his Instagram account.

In the post, the artist wrote that the ambassador “is not telling the truth. Here are all the tax documents that the police illegally seized and then returned along with my passport after four years.�

Ai’s London exhibition is scheduled to run through Dec. 13. The show includes an installation that Ai created that depicts the small cell where he was imprisoned in 2011.

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT