China Artist Ai Weiwei Served With $2 Million Tax Demand

Chinese authorities have served Ai Weiwei with an official demand telling him to pay 15m yuan ($2.3m) within 15 days, the artist has said.

In an interview with Newshour, the artist said the Chinese authorities did not feel the need to justify their charges.

He said: “If they really want to do something to prove I am a bad guy, why don’t they behave themselves to make the process more transparent, to be understandable?”

The artist, one of China’s most famous people, was held for almost three months earlier this year before being accused of “economic crimes”.