Three days after prominent Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei went missing, state-run newspaper Global Times broke the media silence in China by running an editorial, ‘Law will not Concede before Maverick’, both in Chinese and English.

The article attacks Ai Weiwei as a ‘maverick’ (in the Chinese version, tèlìdúxíng, or ‘standing out and walking alone’) who consistently challenges legal boundaries. It also accuses the West of using human rights to violate China’s sovereignty and divert the attention of Chinese society.

Promotional billboard for an exhibit by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in Munich, Germany. Image by Flickr user sanfamedia.com (CC BY-ND 2.0).

Groundwork for arrest?

The article has raised fear that Ai Weiwei’s detention may not end soon, and that the authorities are possibly preparing the groundwork for a criminal arrest.

The Global Times is affiliated with the official Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the People’s Daily. Its Chinese version has often been accused of its strongly nationalistic tone, while the English version is more moderate.

Below is an extract from the English version of the editorial:

It is reckless collision against China’s basic political framework and ignorance of China’s judicial sovereignty to exaggerate a specific case in China and attack China with fierce comments before finding out the truth. The West’s behavior aims at disrupting the attention of Chinese society and attempts to modify the value system of the Chinese people.

Ai Weiwei likes to do something “others dare not do.” He has been close to the red line of Chinese law. Objectively speaking, Chinese society does not have much experience in dealing with such persons. However, as long as Ai Weiwei continuously marches forward, he will inevitably touch the red line one day.

The West ignored the complexity of China’s running judicial environment and the characteristics of Ai Weiwei’s individual behavior. They simply described it as China’s “human rights suppression.” “Human rights” have really become the paint of Western politicians and the media, with which they are wiping off the fact in this world.

The article has sparked repercussions and mockery among Chinese Twitter users; the following tweets are from April 6, 2011.

Ai Xiaoming, feminist literary scholar, documentary filmmaker and human rights activist (@xiaocao07):

我要问该报社：你们公布了真相吗？你们让抓艾未未的人给出抓人真相与罪名了吗？你们让广大读者搞清楚真相了吗？

Wen Yunchao, prominent blogger and activist (@wenyunchao):

文章沒有說艾未未哪些事觸犯法律了，真是神文，在我看來法律確實彎曲了，不過是向內彎。

Xu Zhiyong, prominent legal scholar and activist (@zhiyongxu):

法律不需要在任何人面前弯曲，要保护每个公民的权利，可中国的法律在强权面前不只弯曲，而是卑躬屈膝毫无尊严。艾未未即使触犯了法律，那也要有程序，毫无手续被强行带走这跟绑票什么区别？

Peng Xiaoyun, opinion page editor of Guangzhou-based Time Weekly Magazine (@Pengxiaoyun):

要么犯法，要么没犯法，前者请拿出法律文书来，请公开审判，你敢吗？后者，没犯法的范畴内，爱怎么特立独行是咱老百姓的权利，你觉得特立独行，我还觉着人家是举世皆浊我独清呢！感谢环球时报标题，特立独行对于一个处于黑暗时代的人，恰恰是最大的褒扬。

Ja Jia, Beijing-based writer (@jajia):

环球时报中文版批评艾污蔑艾，环球时报英文版却频频采访艾赞许艾，以向英文世界”报道一个真实的中国”。这样神魂颠倒、利令智昏、自相矛盾、唯利是图、唾面自干的媒体，真是中国媒体的第二大败类！

He Qinglian, United States-based Chinese academic (@HeQinglian):

《环球时报》这段话值得琢磨：“他很多时候离中国法律的红线不远，….客观说，在如何对待他这样的人的问题上，中国社会的经验并不多，法律的判例也不多。”这文章如果是上面授意，那应该是目前还未想好用什么罪名治老艾。

Joshua Rosenzweig, of the Hong Kong-based China human rights group Dui Hua Foundation (@siweiluozi):

按照《环球时报》的社论，中国法律的红线似乎一清二楚。那个红线真的比宪法对言论自由、公民有权批评政府等保障条款那么清楚吗？

Galileo Cheng, Hong Kong media worker and columnist (@galileo44):

環球時報社論也挺逗的，都把中國的特別複雜而無前例情況點出來了：「…客觀說，在如何對待他這樣的人的問題上，中國社會的經驗並不多，法律的判例也不多。但只要艾未未不斷「往前衝」，他有一天「觸線」是很可能的事…」「西方在無視中國司法運行的複雜環境，也無視艾未未個人行為的複雜特點…」

Mo Zhixu, prominent critic and writer (@mozhixu):

环球论调纯法西斯化：民族崛起至上，若少数人特立独行，就要付出代价，即时法律也帮不了他

Lian Yue, well-known social critic and blogger (@lianyue):

环球时报评论员语文基础太差，大批判文章竟然用“特立独行”这样的褒义词。

Netizen @zashi:

环球时报意思是：aiww肯定犯罪了，但是罪名我们正在找。给我们点时间，我们一定能找到