Ai Weiwei denied entry to Switzerland; HK police defend probing families for wanted democracy activists
by AFP Staff Writers
Geneva (AFP) Feb 11, 2025

Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei was barred from entering Switzerland over a lack of proper travel documents, police said on Tuesday, as the artist described being deported from Zurich airport.

In a post on Instagram late on Monday, the artist indicated that he had found himself barred from entering Switzerland upon arrival from London.

"I am sleeping on a bench with a blanket tonight, waiting to be deported next morning at 6:50 am," he wrote.

Early on Tuesday, he posted a video showing him being driven through an all but deserted Zurich airport terminal before his departure back to London.

Asked about the case, Zurich cantonal police told AFP that they had "discovered that Mr. Weiwei, as a Chinese national, did not have the necessary travel documents".

"For this reason, he was denied entry into the Schengen area," Europe's open-borders zone, a spokesman said in an email.

"As is common in such cases, Mr. Weiwei remained in the transit area until his return flight to the airport of origin," police said, stressing that the artist "was never arrested and was always able to move freely".

The son of a poet revered by former communist leaders, 67-year-old Ai is perhaps China's best-known modern artist and helped design the famous "Bird's Nest" stadium for Beijing's 2008 Olympics.

But he fell out of favour after criticising the Chinese government and was imprisoned for 81 days in 2011. He eventually left for Germany four years later.

The artist, who has been living with his son in Portugal since 2019, has visited Switzerland previously to take part in cultural events and to present exhibits, with his most recent visit reportedly taking place in 2023.

Hong Kong police defend probing family of wanted democracy activists
Hong Kong (AFP) Feb 11, 2025 - Hong Kong police have questioned at least 10 family members and associates of overseas democracy activists wanted for national security crimes in the span of a month, with the top brass defending the probes Tuesday as normal police work.

Authorities in December placed bounties on six pro-democracy figures based abroad for allegedly violating the Chinese city's national security laws -- a move criticised by the United States as "transnational repression".

Deputy police commissioner Andrew Kan said police had looked into the Hong Kong-based associates of bounty targets, adding it was normal to collect intelligence from people with links to wanted fugitives.

"We brought in their family and friends to assist our investigation," Kan told reporters on Tuesday.

The aunt and uncle of London-based activist Carmen Lau were taken from their Hong Kong home on Monday morning and were seen leaving a police station hours later.

"The national security apparatus has now extended its reach to my extended family... This is nothing more than an attempt to intimidate Hong Kongers," Lau said on social media platform X.

National security police confirmed to AFP on six separate occasions since January 13 that it had "brought individuals to police stations" to help with investigations.

At least 10 people -- including the wife, son, three siblings and three ex-colleagues of former pollster Chung Kim-wah -- were questioned during that period.

Most of them left police stations within hours and no arrests have been made.

None of them have publicly commented on their situation. Under the national security law, people who "assist with the handling of a case" must follow confidentiality rules.

- 'Targeting friends and family' -

Political dissent in Hong Kong was effectively quashed by a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 after huge, sometimes violent protests the year before.

Authorities have placed bounties on a total of 19 overseas democracy advocates since 2023, while scores of opposition figures have been arrested and jailed in Hong Kong.

The bounties are seen as largely symbolic given that they are for people living in nations unlikely to extradite political activists to Hong Kong or China.

The US-based Hong Kong Democracy Council said the latest developments showed how China is "significantly expanding the scope of its well-worn tactic of targeting friends and family of dissidents".

Lau and Chung both said they have cut ties with former associates still based in Hong Kong.

Chung was an executive at one of Hong Kong's last independent polling bodies, the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (HKPORI).

Aside from government popularity ratings, HKPORI also conducted polls on Hong Kongers' political identity and views on the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown -- a sensitive issue in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Hong Kong security chief Chris Tang told AFP in January that the move to question Chung's ex-colleagues had "absolutely nothing to do with the results of (the group's polls)".

HKPORI said days later that it had suspended all self-financed research activities "due to various technical reasons".

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