By Catarina Demony and Gerhard Mey
LONDON, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Ai Weiwei, the Chinese dissident whose activist art has made him Beijing’s best-known critic, said on Thursday the West should examine its own human rights record before condemning China, as the British prime minister visits his homeland.
Ai, speaking to Reuters in London, said he has previously argued that Western leaders visiting China should openly denounce the country’s human rights abuses before striking business deals with the world’s second-largest economy.
“But today I changed my mind, completely,” Ai said. “The West (is) not even (in a) position to accuse China. (They must) just check on their record (of) what they did on international human rights, (their) freedom of speech record.”
Ai’s remarks come as Keir Starmer makes a four-day visit to China, the first by a UK leader in eight years, aimed at improving relations despite concerns over espionage and human rights.
Ai, in London hosting events for his new book “Censorship”, said Western leaders raising issues such as human rights, free speech and censorship would be seen as deeply hypocritical and would “make people laugh”.
He pointed to how the West handled the case of Julian Assange, who returned to Australia in June 2024 after a plea deal ended his imprisonment and a 14-year legal battle over the release of classified U.S. military files.
As he arrived in Beijing on Wednesday, Starmer said he would “raise the issues that need to be raised” on human rights with China’s president, Xi Jinping, including the case of Jimmy Lai, a former Hong Kong media tycoon and British citizen convicted in December of national security crimes.
Ai said he has also faced censorship in the West, including a London gallery’s decision to postpone one of his exhibitions in 2023 over a social media post about the war in Gaza.
“I think they (Western leaders) are shy even to talk about those things (human rights),” Ai said.
Nevertheless, Ai said that, based on business interests, Starmer’s decision to visit to China was “rational and practical”. He called it a “very good move” that would benefit Britain and be well received in China.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Alison Williams)
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