China blocks well-known artist from boarding plane

Artist Ai Weiwei is an outspoken government critic and has been barred from going abroad before. -- PHOTO: AP

BEIJING - CHINA blocked one of its most famous contemporary artists from taking a flight to Hong Kong on Sunday, and police later raided his Beijing studio, the man's assistan said.

Artist Ai Weiwei is an outspoken government critic and has been barred from going abroad before.

China has launched a massive crackdown on lawyers, writers and activists, arresting and detaining dozens since February when online calls for protests similar to those in the Middle East and North Africa began to circulate. Mr Ai has been keeping an informal tally of those detentions on Twitter, where he has more than 70,000 followers.

The studio assistant, who asked not to be named, said Mr Ai was going through customs at the Beijing Capital International Airport early Sunday when two officials escorted him away, leaving a travelling companion to board the flight alone.

It was not clear whether the 53-year-old artist and architectural designer had been detained or why he was barred from taking the flight, the assistant said. Mr Ai's cellphone could not be reached and airport police refused to comment.

Police later arrived at Mr Au's studio with a search warrant and took several staff members to a police station for questioning, said the assistant, who was among the group. A man who answered the phone at the police station said he would check on the case, then hung up the phone. Subsequent calls to the number rang unanswered. -- AP