New China: Ai Weiwei is also suspected of economic criminal activity

Beijing - The well-known critic of the Chinese regime, Ai Weiwei, is in the hands of the Chinese police, who are interrogating him on suspicion of economic crimes. This was announced today by the Xinhua News Agency. Beijing has warned the international community that it has no right to intervene in the case.
Ai was detained by the police at the Beijing airport on Sunday when he was attempting to fly to Hong Kong. Since then, there have been no news about him.
The United States, Britain, and France protested against his detention on Sunday. Amnesty International and other human rights organizations demanded his immediate release.
"Ai Weiwei is suspected of economic crimes," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei. "Other countries have no right to intervene. The case has nothing to do with human rights or freedom of expression," he declared.
The police arrested Ai just a few days after the fifty-three-year-old avant-garde artist announced that he wanted to leave China and settle abroad. He reportedly wanted to open his studio in Germany and live there to escape the harassment and persecution by Chinese authorities. Ai has referred to Chinese leaders as gangsters and, in recent years, has advocated for humanitarian cases.
However, after his arrest, he disappeared, and Chinese authorities refused to provide journalists with any information about him. His wife also had no information about his fate. Ai's friends feared that he could be charged with attempting to undermine the state, which could lead to a sentence of up to ten years in prison.
According to a report from the Chinese agency, "Ai is being investigated in accordance with Chinese laws for suspected economic criminal activity".
Ai participated as a designer in the conceptualization of the futuristic design of Beijing's architectural pride, the National Olympic Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest. He is currently exhibiting at the Tate Modern gallery in London.