- Chinese artist Ai Weiwei says the protests in China are too loosely organized to make an impact.
- Ai, a dissident in exile, likened the protests to "a plate of loose sand."
Famed Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei says the protests in his homeland might be unprecedented, but they won't change anything.
Ai, a $4, told $4 on Friday that the protests are unlikely to have any real impact after the country's $4 are lifted.
"People mostly want to be released from confinement and go back to their normal life," Ai said.
He added that the protests remain leaderless and do not seem to have a deeper agenda beyond resisting the zero-COVID restrictions.
"As we say in a $4, it is like a plate of loose sand," Ai said.
He added that the $4 were a strong symbol of the desire for freedom of expression. But symbols aside, Ai does not think the protests will have a lasting effect on China or the government. Protests $4, but unrest has largely died down after the Chinese government $4.
"Any type of protest in China can hardly be successful because the Party considers themselves as representative of the interests of people," Ai told DW. "So for them, there is no such thing as people's protests against them."
Ai was once a celebrated artist in China. He $4, one of Beijing's crown jewels. But after becoming an outspoken critic of the Chinese government, $4. Ai was $4 in a windowless cell at a secret police detention center, where he was watched around the clock by Chinese policemen while he slept, ate, and showered. He documented the $4.
Ai was also $4 a charge he fought in a Beijing court but $4. He $4.