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Artist Ai Weiwei at a panel discussion in the Reichstag building
Photo: FILIP SINGER / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
About a year after his angry farewell from Berlin, Ai Weiwei returned to his home on Tuesday.
The Chinese filmmaker, artist and activist, who still has a studio in the capital but now lives with his family in Cambridge, UK, is on a mission.
The day before he demonstrated in London against the circumstances of the ongoing proceedings against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
This time he came to Germany at the invitation of the FDP's foreign policy spokesman, Bijan Djir-Sarai and the "Cinema for Peace" foundation, to show his Wuhan documentary "Coronation" in the Reichstag building - and with the Hong Kong democracy Activists Joshua Wong and German MPs discuss China's authoritarian course in the former British crown colony.
We met Ai for an interview while his film was being shown in the FDP parliamentary group.
SPIEGEL: "
Coronation" shows the first weeks with the virus in its place of origin, Wuhan, in oppressive images.
How do you rate the Chinese government's handling of the corona crisis at this early stage?
Ai Weiwei:
China should have managed that much better.
The government has withheld information and manipulated the numbers.
It should have opened up back then and invited everyone to carefully analyze and study the virus.
Instead, massive action was taken against the doctors who leaked information with the concentrated state power.
We don't know exactly why - probably because information is seen as a weapon that must be centrally controlled by the party.
SPIEGEL:
Is the Chinese government responsible for the fact that the spread got out of control and that the corona could turn into a pandemic?
Ai Weiei:
She is absolutely responsible for this first phase.
But I believe that you couldn't imagine how bad it would be - and that you regret that too.
Of course, this is never said publicly.
But always denied any responsibility and claimed that it had nothing to do with her and her decisions.
"The Germans are behaving opportunistically. Germany and China have long been close, best partners. The German economy sees its industrial future there because of the cheap labor."
SPIEGEL:
Your film was rejected by various festivals, for example in Venice and New York.
They believe it wasn't for artistic reasons.
Which ones then?
Ai Weiwei:
Quite simply, the film industry is no longer a platform for open thinking.
It's about selling the product film.
And the biggest market is China, where 30 to 40 percent of global ticket sales can be achieved.
As the festival director, you have to keep this in mind, because China is pretty brutal when it comes to content that is China-critical.
So that's understandable.
But it's a shame too.
The western creative industry, which was supposed to be a haven for freedom of expression, has collapsed.
Take the Disney movie "Mulan," which was designed to please the Chinese and which was historically just about everything wrong.
There is no longer any difference to other industries, it is about winning the Chinese market.
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Activist Joshua Wong joined the Bundestag
Photo: FILIP SINGER / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
SPIEGEL:
We are here in the German Bundestag.
You have just come from an event that Joshua Wong attended.
The Hong Kong activist who will be on trial again tomorrow.
How do you rate German foreign policy towards China?
Ai Weiwei:
The Germans behave opportunistically.
Germany and China have long been close, best partners.
The German economy sees its industrial future there because of the cheap labor.
That is why Germany is extremely cautious when it comes to representing its own values.
And because it is so influential in Europe, it is setting a clear example for others and sending a signal to China that Europe does not care as long as economic relations work.
That's why China will win.
SPIEGEL:
You said here today that Germany has blood on its hands.
What do you mean exactly?
"Some Germans now openly admire the authoritarian state. Of course it is efficient. But at the expense of society, the individual citizens and their rights."
Ai Weiwei:
I already tweeted that when Obama visited China.
Everyone should know that every deal that is concluded in China is at the expense of human rights and humane conditions in society.
This also applies to Germany: everyone who does business with authoritarian states ultimately agrees with their policies.
Some Germans now openly admire the authoritarian state.
Of course he's efficient.
But at the expense of society, the individual citizens and their rights.
I think Germany and the entire West have lost their soul.
SPIEGEL:
What should German policy towards China look like?
Ai Weiwei:
Germany should be alarmed and adopt a global perspective.
The entire West needs answers to the rapid growth of authoritarian systems.
It takes a clear common stance and vision for the 21st century.
This is not about simple small repairs, but some kind of fundamental war of views.
The competition between capitalism and communism is on and the West is struggling right now.
Technical bureaucracies and administrations predominate here, and they find it difficult to develop inspiring visions.
China, on the other hand, has such a vision, and also a strategy.
"The entire West needs answers to the rapid growth of authoritarian systems. It needs a clear common stance and vision for the 21st century. This is not about simple small repairs, but a kind of fundamental war of views."
SPIEGEL:
US President Donald Trump is trying his hand at a trade war against Chinese telecom supplier Huawei and the video platform TikTok.
There is also debate in Germany about excluding Huawei from setting up the 5G networks.
What do you make of it?
Ai Weiei:
What Trump is doing is a gesture, symbolic politics.
A ban is not the answer, it has to go much deeper.
China's understanding of the world, its philosophy, can become a huge problem for world security.
The West has to deal with this, based on its own principles and values.
At the moment he seems confused, weak and divided.
It's a gift for China.
SPIEGEL:
You lived in Berlin for around five years before moving to Cambridge last year.
Did you talk to German politicians about these issues at that time?
Ai Weiwei:
Nobody visited me or asked me, they were probably waiting for me to be poisoned
(laughs)
.
That's okay, I'm an artist, I make my films.
But Germany means something to me.
When I left China I could have moved to the USA, after all, I had lived there for twelve years.
I chose Germany.
And when I'm here, I don't want to be just a decoration, I have to get involved.
SPIEGEL:
That sounds very diplomatic and conciliatory now.
When they moved to the UK, they were tough on the Germans.
There is no open society here, you said.
Ai Weiwei:
I was misunderstood.
But I learned that overall you can't take criticism that well here, I didn't know that at the time, otherwise I might have been more careful.
Perhaps one should be a little more self-critical here and not be so fragile.
Germany is so strong it should be able to take a few blows.
Feel free to strike back!
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