'Unfortunately, as an architect, you cannot control how the building is being used,' Ai told Christiane Amanpour in the interview, which airs Friday. 'For me it's a big disappointment, not only in how it's being used but also in the directions China (has taken) in past decades.'
in an interview from Portugal, where he has been living in self-exile since 2021. Fearing for his safety were he to return to China, where he was once detained for 81 days for"inciting the subversion of state power," Ai has resided around Europe for almost seven years.
But the artist distanced himself from the project and criticized China's hosting of the Olympics ahead of the opening ceremony, believing it to be a propaganda tool at odds with what he felt were the oppressive realities of life in the country. "We have to defend everybody who has been mistreated, and only by doing that, can we build a better future."When asked if he really believed, back then, that China would become democratic, free and transparent, Ai responded,"Well, by that time, of course I believed so. But at this moment, I doubt ," adding that that the country has, in many ways, gone"backwards.
While the dissident artist has not called for athletes to boycott the games, he appealed to their"sense of justice and fairness," adding:"The Games is about fairness, the competition is about fairness. And so, athletes representing human spirit of course defend those very important issues, such as human rights and freedom of speech.
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