Ai Weiwei's exclusive interview with AP

Like the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which will open on February 4, will be held at the Beijing National Stadium, commonly known as the "Bird's Nest". The stadium, which has become a new landmark in Beijing, was designed by the Swiss design firm Herzog & de Meuron, and the famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who is now in exile, participated in the design of the "Bird's Nest" because he worked for the Swiss design firm.

Ai Weiwei had hoped that the novel design of the Bird's Nest and the hosting of the Olympic Games would bring about a greater opening in China, but he was disappointed. In addition to criticizing Beijing's 2008 Olympics as "soulless", he repeatedly described the Bird's Nest and the Beijing Olympics as "false smiles" that China presented to the world.

In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on the eve of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Ai Weiwei said the Beijing Winter Olympics were no different from the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

Ai Weiwei, the son of the famous Chinese poet Ai Qing, suffered from exile and persecution since he was a child because Ai Qing was labeled a "rightist". Ai Weiwei often uses his writings or comments to criticize the Chinese government's crackdown on freedom and human rights. Last year, he published his memoir, "The Joys of a Thousand Years," about his struggles with the state apparatus and his and his father's challenges to authority.

"As a designer, my purpose, like any other designer, is to design as perfect as possible," Ai Weiwei said of the bird's nest design in an emailed response to questions from The Associated Press. "We wanted our work to be a symbol of freedom and openness, a force for optimism and positivity, but it ended up being used as a propaganda tool."

When the International Olympic Committee decided in 2001 to let Beijing host the 2008 Olympics, it said the move would help improve human rights. But what Ai Weiwei saw was that migrant workers were driven out of Beijing, small shops were closed, street vendors were driven away, and tall and large billboards with beautiful pictures of beautiful scenery appeared in many parts of the city to cover the dilapidated community.

"The entire Olympics were held under lockdown," Ai Weiwei told The Associated Press. Instead, the IOC and the Chinese government have worked closely together to put on a show for economic and political gain."

"In our world where everything has political implications, we are told not to politicize, this is just a sporting event that has nothing to do with history, ideas and values, or even human nature," Ai Weiwei said.

Ai Weiwei said in an email that the 2008 Beijing Olympics had emboldened China to be "more confident and less willing to compromise." He explained that the 2008 Olympics were "negative" because it allowed the Chinese government to package its rhetoric more effectively. The Olympics did not change China as the IOC said it did, nor did it improve civil liberties. Instead, China used the Olympics to improve its image on the international stage and demonstrate its rising power.

The Associated Press reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping was a high-level official in the Chinese government at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will be entirely his personal performance.

"Since 2008, the Chinese government has further tightened control and the human rights situation has further deteriorated," Ai Weiwei told The Associated Press. "China sees the hypocrisy and helplessness of the West on human rights issues, so they have become bolder, more immoral, and more reckless. In 2022, China will impose restrictions on online and political life, including human rights, media, and self-media. Tougher restrictions. The CCP doesn’t care if the West participates in the Winter Olympics, because China believes that the West is too busy with its own business.”

Ai Weiwei believes that the combination of the Beijing Winter Olympics and the new crown epidemic is the best time for China's authoritarian government. The outbreak will limit the movement of journalists during the Olympics, and it could also demonstrate the Orwellian control of the Chinese government.

“Under state capitalism, especially after the Covid-19 epidemic, China firmly believes that its administrative control is the only effective way; this also reinforces their insistence on authoritarianism. At the same time, China believes that people who believe in the ideals of democracy and freedom The West has been unable to achieve effective control. So the 2022 Olympics will further demonstrate the effectiveness of Chinese authoritarianism and the defeat of Western democratic governments," Ai Weiwei said.

Ai Weiwei has repeatedly criticized the IOC for being an accomplice who only wants to make money from the Chinese market. Both the International Olympic Committee and the Chinese government are interested in business opportunities.

“There is no real civil society. In such a situation, the Chinese people have absolutely no interest in the Olympics because it shows only national politics. The athletes trained by the state take Olympic gold medals for themselves or even for sports institutions in exchange for economic benefits. This kind of It deviates from the original intent of the Olympics."

Asked if he had plans to return to China, Ai was skeptical.

"From the current situation, it is increasingly difficult for me to return to China," he said. “The point I want to make is that the situation in China is deteriorating, and Western boycotts are ineffective and useless. China doesn’t care about that.”