One of China's most famous and controversial artists, Ai Weiwei , was stopped from leaving Beijing for Hong Kong yesterday morning and appeared to have been detained, with his studio in the capital city raided by police afterwards.
Political activist Ai (pictured) was barred from boarding the Hong Kong-bound flight at Beijing Capital International Airport at about 9am, leaving his companion to fly alone, according to one of his assistants, who declined to be named.
'Ai was heading for Taiwan for an art exhibition via Hong Kong,' said the assistant, adding that the trip had nothing to do with politics.
It was not immediately clear why he was taken away.
'He has been out of reach since he was taken away by two border officers [at the airport],' the assistant said. 'He would certainly have called us if he were free. But no, he has not phoned us yet. He may have been detained.'
An officer at the airport branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau declined to confirm if Ai was being held. 'There would be a record in our computer system if he was detained, but there is none,' he said.
Ai's assistant said that after the airport incident, more than a dozen policemen cordoned off an area of 50 metres around Ai's studio in Beijing's Chaoyang District and cut off power supply in the neighbourhood. They also took away Ai's colleagues for questioning, he said.