Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Ai Weiwei supporters raise 1/3 of China tax bill...

Thousands of people have donated 5.29 million yuan ($830,000) to help Ai Weiwei pay a huge tax fine, with some throwing money wrapped in paper planes into his garden, the Chinese artist said Monday.

The drive to donate to Ai, who disappeared into secret police custody for 81 days this year and has since been ordered to pay a 15 million yuan tax bill, began Friday and has gathered momentum mainly from the Internet.

"The postal bureau has just notified me that there are 776 cash remittances that we need to go and pick up," Ai -- also a vocal rights activist -- told AFP Monday morning, adding more than four million yuan had already been donated.

By early afternoon, that sum had risen to 5.29 million yuan with 18,829 people contributing towards the bill, Liu Yanping -- who works with Ai -- told AFP. Full story...

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