He was responding to a question about the cancellation of his exhibition by the Lisson Gallery in London in November following comments on social media referencing the Israel-Hamas conflict.
His post, which was subsequently deleted, suggested the “sense of guilt around the persecution of the Jewish people” had been transferred and used against the Arab world.
Referring to his own family’s exile when he was one year old, the activist said: "I grew up within this heavy political censorship.
“I realise now, today in the West, you are doing exactly the same.”
He drew parallels with the disastrous purge under Mao, which took China to the brink of anarchy.
Criticising the suspension of two New York University professors for comments related to Gaza, Ai said: "This is really like a cultural revolution, which is really trying to destroy anybody who have different attitudes, not even a clear opinion.
Ai’s art often addresses political issues in China and he has frequently criticised Beijing’s record on human rights and democracy.
As I told OP, this is not a contest. You can criticize the West without saying it is exactly the same as Mao’s China. It is not. Because if it was, you would never have heard Ai WeiWei say so. They would have been put in a “re-education” camp long ago. And even if they somehow were able to get that message out, not a single news outlet would report on it.
In this case, News Corp is reporting on it. In other words, an outlet owned by Rupert Murdoch is making the claim that you can’t get away with having the freedom to say what you want in the West.
If that were true, Rupert Murdoch wouldn’t still be going strong at 92 with a vast media empire that is able to get away with lying constantly in order to be critical of the governments of the countries his news outlets are in, he would be dead.