Comments on Siweiluozi's Blog: Translation: "Elimination of 'Ai Weiweis' is the T...

seeing red .. "reporting" to me implies ...

2011-11-17T15:14:58.261+08:00

seeing red .. "reporting" to me implies "investigative" .. sure, there are stories, we all have read them for months

@GregoryLent "i have seen zero, none, nada, r...

2011-11-17T09:06:00.553+08:00

@GregoryLent
"i have seen zero, none, nada, reporting of the ai weiwei tax story by any western journalist writing from china, of which there are a lot" Have you considered checking CNN, NYT, BBC, Al Jazeera, NPR or the dozen other sources who have reported on Ai's tax situation from the moment it was announced?

"i even got a tweet from one journalist who admitted she was trying to make the government look bad ..." Really? Could you post a copy of that tweet? It seems like something like that should be exposed if it actually happened.

@RedTidal sums up the real questions about the taxes. If this is simply a tax issue, is Ai's treatment inline with Chinese legal procedures? If his wife is in name the owner of the company, isn't she still the one who is legally responsible for the taxes instead of Ai?

Regardless of how Global Times tries to spin the story, this is still a blatant abuse of Ai's rights under Chinese law.

Agree on nobody really asked about the tax evasion...

2011-11-16T13:20:47.375+08:00

Agree on nobody really asked about the tax evasion. They should.

But I don't see how even if Ai skipped on tax should get him disappeared and put under house surveillance? OK, he might have flight risk, just take away his passport then, why restriction of contacting with press?

So if Ai evaded tax, that makes his treatment warranted? That it is such hideous crime that his right should be discarded and violated while we applaud at the decisive move by the government?

And since when if WSJ writes stupid opinions, then we might as well just tolerate all lying propaganda?

this is not completely bogus ... i have seen zero,...

2011-11-16T11:24:10.063+08:00

this is not completely bogus ... i have seen zero, none, nada, reporting of the ai weiwei tax story by any western journalist writing from china, of which there are a lot

first question, of course unasked .. mr. ai, have you ever paid ANY taxes? and has anyone pointed out how common it is to put things in the wife's name, especially wealthy and government elites?

where is the reporting, beyond the side-taking?

i am pro artists, pro ai weiwei, anti authoritarian governments, but i have to say there is very little writing in english from china that does not seem agenda-driven.

i even got a tweet from one journalist who admitted she was trying to make the government look bad ..

yes, the global times is wacko, but often so is the wall street journal or foreign policy or npr, all can be very pravda-like at times.

we need global minds in journalism, not partisans.

thanks for your time, enjoy.

gregorylent