- The Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei finally got his passport back today, four years after it was seized by government authorities.
Ai made the announcement on Instagram, posting a selfie of him holding his red and gold passport with a simple caption: "Today, I picked up my passport."
Just saw this posted on some people's WeChat accounts, was a bit surprised. I wonder whether he still plans to live in China after all this. I understand it makes his activism a lot more visible to people in China, but he must be afraid that the PRC will take more drastic steps in the future.
Have you seen 'Never Sorry'? If not, I recommend it. I get a sense from that film that Ai is willing to be a martyr for the Chinese people. Like you say, his activism is more visible to people in China. Staying in China is the only way to create the kind of change he is wanting.
He has a family there too. I don't think it's so easy as just leaving for good, even if he wanted to.