Ai Weiwei, who only recently got his passport returned by the Chinese authorities, has been refused a six-month visa by the British government, the BBC reports. In a letter that Ai posted on Instagram, the British government states that he failed to declare his ‘criminal conviction’ in the application, adding they would make an ‘exception’ and grant him a restricted 20-day visa, for him to attend the opening of London show this September.
Though Ai Weiwei was detained in China for 81 days in 2011, he was never convicted of any crime. Ai says he attempted to clarify the situation with the UK Visas and Immigration Department and the British Embassy in Beijing, but without success.
30 July 2015.
Update 31 July 2015: The British home secretary Teresa May has ordered officials to issue Ai a full 6-month visa, reversing the earlier decision.
