The prominent government critic was the most high-profile target of a sweeping crackdown on activists this year and his detention sparked international outcry, with some countries saying it was a sign that the human rights situation in China was deteriorating.
Tax officials visited Ai’s studio late last month to say his design company Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd. owed $770,000 in back taxes from the last decade and $1.1 million in fines.
Ai’s wife, Lu Qing, who is the legal representative of the design company, said before the hearing that the firm wanted the Beijing Local Taxation Bureau to return the company’s financial records seized during Ai’s detention.
“We don’t have any materials. It is not fair, it is not open,” she said of the hearing.
Lu said authorities told her not to give any interviews.
Ai’s family previously denied he evaded any taxes and activists say the accusations were a false premise for detaining Ai. His supporters say he is being punished for his critical views of the Communist leadership and social problems. Before his own detention, he tracked the detention of other activists.
Ai was detained April 3 and released June 22. He has declined interviews about his detention or the investigation since then, saying the terms of his bail prohibit it.
Ai was not at the hearing, which was attended by Lu, company lawyer Xia Lin and an accountant.
Chinese authorities have said that although Ai was released, he is technically still under investigation for at least a year and could be brought in for further questioning at any time.
Ai is internationally known and has earned huge sums selling his work at auctions and through galleries. In February, a 220-pound (100-kilogram) pile of handmade porcelain sunflower seeds he commissioned for a show in London sold for more than $550,000 at auction.
Lu also said it was not clear when Ai would be able to take up an offer to be a visiting lecturer at Berlin’s University of Arts.
The university first published the offer — in the works since December — following Ai’s detention in April.
“It is unclear when he will be able to leave the country because he does not have his passport,” she said.
