Aj Wej-wej gave the Chinese tax office a multi-million guarantee

Beijing - Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei announced that today he deposited a guarantee of 8.45 million yuan (25 million crowns) into the account of the state tax office. This step is intended to allow him to request a review of the tax office's decision, which ordered the artist to pay 15 million yuan (almost 44.5 million CZK) in taxes and fines.
The deposit of the mentioned financial amount represents a concession by the artist in his dispute with the Chinese tax authorities, which he reportedly decided to make primarily out of concern for his collaborators. The tax officials threatened to hand over the investigation of his company's activities to the police if the amount was not deposited by the deadline this Wednesday.
The artist had so far refused to pay the amount, stating that no evidence of tax evasion had been presented. Ai is also merely an artist of the company, not a director or manager, although the fine was addressed to his name. He himself notes, however, that none of this is significant to the Chinese authoritarian government.
"It's simple. Those in power can do whatever they want, they have unlimited power," Ai remarked. Ai expressed concerns that if the case were taken over by the police, they could arrest his wife first, as she is the legal representative and director of the relevant company.
The company, however, decided not to deposit the guarantee in full, as Ai believes it could be perceived as an admission of guilt, and moreover, the money would be difficult to recover from the office even if Ai's company won.
The funds that Ai submitted today come from donations by the artist's supporters - other artists, dissidents, and thousands of anonymous sympathizers - who in recent days have donated almost nine million yuan to him.
Ai Weiwei was arrested this spring as part of a crackdown on government critics and was subsequently held without charge for three months, being released at the end of June. The charges against Ai for tax evasion are viewed by human rights advocates as yet another way to punish him for his criticism of the Chinese Communist government.
According to Ai, the company now has 60 days to achieve a review of the case. The world-renowned artist Ai, who has exhibited his works in recent years in London, New York, and Berlin, and has reportedly earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from the sale of some of his paintings, has previously stated that he will repay all loans to donors.