The Moment To Reveal The Truth

In an interview entitled 'The Moment to reveal the truth', Ai Weiwei, the artistic consultant behind the "Bird's Nest" Olympic stadium in Beijing raised his concern over China's oppression in Tibet. Ai Weiwei's comments was first published in German in the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on March 31, and were reproduced in Chinese on other websites last week. Here is an English version of the interview, translated from the Chinese by Nita Ing.

Ai-WeiWei, What is your view on the recent unrests in Tibet and the reaction of the western world during the past few weeks?

As an observer, I believe the information presented both in the West and in China have to a certain degree revealed incorrect information.  There were no in-depth coverage on the cause.  Aside from accusing each other, both sides did not have actual communication on these riots.  Regrettably, looking back into our history, an obvious distinct character is the lack of public discussion.  We live in a society where ideology is severely controlled, especially when it comes to the issues of the ethnic minorities.  The problem cannot be solved if the majority of the Han people look upon the minorities as the slaves whom are freed by us.  The actual situation is much more complex.  They have their own religion, their own cultural heritage and their own way of thinking.  The Tibetan are now simplistically being blamed and scolded for infringing the law.  I do not think this can solve the problem, because this will only deepen the hatred amongst the Han people and the ethnic minorities, thus further deepen their gap.

How to eliminate the ethnic gap?

The key is to truly respect the ethnic minorities, and admit the mistakes which we have made towards them in the past.  The recent riots have stated the failure of the policy on the ethnic minorities.  We have never fully understood their religion and their lifestyle. Historically, we destroyed their temples and statues, this is a basic fact.  Now they begin to destruct houses and assault the military and people.  We cannot help but ask where did this hatred come from?  Or do we want a society which can claim that everything is normal, but in fact have ignored their rights.  In a democratic society, all ethnic groups and their distinct character must be respected.  These problems should be solved.  If not, then this would be failure of policy.  Must seek dialogue.  It is not feasible to simply accuse them of just being separatists.  We need to establish a society in which different ethnic groups, people with different languages, with different religions, lifestyle and way of thinking can  coexist.  Therefore, respect, tolerance, communication and dialogue is necessary. 

Why do you think the western world’s perspective is also not appropriate?

When one carries a certain prejudice, he becomes blind to the actual world.  When there are cover-ups, then there will inevitably arise speculation and suspicion.  I do believe basically that the misunderstanding, resentment and hatred amongst people, nations, the different ideologies, the West and the East, the Tibetan people and Han people are mainly caused due to much avoidance of truth, the lack of transparent information and the limited channels of information.  That has created a great toll to the society.  In all of China, we are beginning to see some changes in this aspect.  In some area, nevertheless, it is still dominated by old structure and thought process.  I believe the Tibetan issue in particular is quite special.  Amidst the lack of true facts and intended cover-up, people encounter obstacles for them to think and differentiate.  This is the most basic thing, but may seem to be naïve.  The way people try to acquire the truth and experiences signify the fundamental differences of the different societies.  In the beginning stages of Communism, people tried to obtain the truth by means of conflict.  At the same time when people strive for the truth, they tend to distrust the ordinary people who try to grasp for truth.  Allowing the ordinary people to know the truth is dangerous.  This is an old thinking, and it is related to how people grasp and control power. I often ask, why is it that we cannot have a society where there is no censorship and control of the mass media.   What do we want to cover up?  What kind of the truth is that dangerous?  Obviously, it is easier to control if the majority of the people have only limited and selected information.  Information is power.  From past experiences, we know that understanding the truth is required before people can make the right judgment.  We have never had such rights, but it is time for us to have it.  Otherwise, the whole world will hold us responsible when they look back into this period of time.  If nothing shameful has been done, why must there be cover-ups?  Overall, I think the mass media did not exaggerate.  It would be damaging if no coverage was made on these events, and no one explore and examine what had happened.  Many Chinese people curse the West now, this is the result caused by long term propaganda, where the West is perceived to be the enemy who deceives China.  That is the outcome of prejudice.

Many Chinese are curious as to why so many western people have shown such interest in Tibet.  On the contrary, may we ask why so few Chinese care about Tibet?  The actual feeling of empathy toward the weaker ones is lacking in the Chinese society.  The weak and the wounded have no foothold in this society.  This is a society for the ones with success and power, a society lacking empathy and concern.  The West is a different world, where people naturally would take sides with the weak, the less privileged.  Many Chinese simply treat Tibet as a tourist destination.  Those naïve and blinded little capitalists from Shanghai and Beijing would rather enjoy a good vacation there, but they do not understand the local people, they have no real interaction with the local people.

How do people in China’s literary and artistic society view these events?

People get confused; I often hear the questions like: “what went wrong?” “What does Dalai Lama want to do?”  People fall into a state of confusion.  The Buddhists are peace loving people.  But now, we see that they hold daggers in their hands, burning flags, smashing windows with rage and anger in their heart.  But is there a possibility to allow them to speak?  Can they be invited to CCTV to talk about what are their thoughts?  Instead of just simply mark them as outlaws?  I cannot help but ask why not? Who build this great wall of misunderstanding?  And what is it for?  If we keep holding the view that they are barbarians, how can we gain their understanding?  The only result will be the widening of the abyss and the deepening of hatred and resentment.  If one’s desire is for another to be extinguished, either physically or spiritually, this then would be an act of bloody barbarism.