【新唐人2011年11月5日訊】最近,在推特上興起了一股旋風。那就是借錢給艾未未,去支付北京當局開出的1522萬元人民幣的補稅和罰款。目前實際匯款人數已知將近四千人,借款總額約95萬元人民幣。
「借」錢給艾未未旋風,正在網路上蔓延。4號起,網友們在Twitter上爭相發推,要做艾未未的「債主」。
據了解,網友不斷把錢送到草場地258號,支付寶卡已有上千筆錢匯入,諮詢如何匯款的電話絡繹不絕。
由於北京當局讓地稅局給艾未未開出天價罰款,並要求15天之內必需支付。4號,艾未未的母親高瑛向《新唐人》表示,她想把目前住的四合院作抵押,提供約 845萬元人民幣,作為申請行政複議的擔保。
艾未未母親高瑛:「是啊,給的時間太短了,我要賣房子都來不及啊現在。作抵押,現在律師就在我這裡呢,在商量怎麼來作。這個時(間)就來不及,因為以前我沒有把產權證辦下來。就說好像先要拿出7-8百萬吧,大概是這樣。但是我們在努力做,我們要做好幾種準備。我覺得現在他們(當局)是在找碴呢,就是在逼你(艾未未)呢,讓你沒有路走。」
高瑛的語氣透露出些許焦慮。另一方面,網友「借」錢給艾未未旋風,又讓近80歲的老母親堅信,艾未未一定能順利走過。
艾未未母親高瑛:「這個事,我相信,這麼多的人支持艾未未啊!難不住,都會幫他。」
有網友把這事當成一門行為藝術,或者當成是維權抗爭、政治娛樂化。
網友說,「一塊錢可以成為名人的債主,親!都來參加吧!一輩子就這一回哦!」「拉著襠一起搞這麽大的行為藝術,嬸好厲害啊。這麼大規模的展覽,嬸要收門票嗎?」「這是真的。綁票贖金。」「真理和普世價值一定會最終勝利!」
維權人士屠夫:「這個事情,啟發很多公民權利意識是非常強的。很多像我們衝在一線的人,不斷用這種東西告訴大家,我們需要支持。出事,我們不能老是一直圍觀嘛,這也是參與的一種方式。他(艾未未)被這樣莫須有罪名的迫害,那他現在遇到困難,我們當然有義務選擇跟他站在一起,跟他們(北京當局)對抗。」
還有青年學子發貼說得好窩心,要吃一個月的方便麵,把錢省下來「借」給艾嬸。更有網友問,罰款是否可以用現金支付?要借200個5毛硬幣給艾未未。還說,「如果大家都這樣,稅務局開十幾卡車回去,打賞門口黑壓壓的一群五毛,那得多壯觀?」
新唐人記者林莉、梁欣、蕭宇採訪報導。
Netizens Help Ai Weiwei Pay Whopping Tax Bill
Recently, a tidal wave of ‘loans’ has come in, as a result of a Twitter post, asking people to lend money to Ai Weiwei to help him pay RMB 15.22 million (US$2.36 million) in so-called back taxes and fines levied by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities in Beijing. Nearly 4,000 people have remitted money to Ai Weiwei, so far, amounting to about RMB 950,000 (US$150,000).
An online tidal wave of support is coming in from every corner of the globe in an effort to help Ai Weiwei. Since November 4, many netizens posted notes on Twitter saying that they wanted to be ‘creditors’ of Ai Weiwei.
Sources said that netizens sent their money to Caochangdi Village, No.258, Ai’s residential address. Thousands of money transfers have been made via Alipay, an online payment platform. People from everywhere are calling up to find out how to send money to Ai.
The CCP’s Beijing Local Taxation Bureau sent Ai Weiwei a tax bill of RMB 15.22 million (US$2.36 million), requiring him to make his payment within 15 days. On November 4, Ai Weiwei’s mother, Gao Ying, told NTD TV that she was going to put her RMB 8.45 million (US$1.33 million) home up as collateral in order to apply for ‘administrative reconsideration’.
Gao Ying, mother of Ai Weiwei: “Yes, the time frame is so short. It’s too late to even sell my home now, to use the money as collateral. Now the lawyer is here with me and we are discussing the situation. It’s too late now, as I’ve never bothered to obtain a House Ownership Certificate, in the past. At first, they seemed to be saying that we needed to pay RMB 7-8 million (US$1.10 million to US$ 1.26 million). We are trying our best to do that now, but we have to make several provisions. I believe that the authorities are just looking to stir up trouble. They are pressing Ai Weiwei in order to force him into a corner.”
Gao Ying sounds a bit anxious. On the other hand, a tidal wave of financial support from netizens makes Ai Weiwei’s nearly 80-year-old mother believe that her son will certainly get through these difficult times.
Gao Ying, mother of Ai Weiwei: “So many people are supporting him, thus, this difficulty cannot beat him. He’ll get support from the people.”
A netizen treated this issue as ‘behavior art’, and a ‘struggle to defend human rights’, and ‘political entertainment’.
Another netizen posted: “One RMB (US$ 0.16) can make you a celebrity’s creditor, so come and join us! You only get one chance to do this in a lifetime!” Other netizens commented: “Accompanied by the crotch (sounds same as CCP in Chinese) to do such big a behavior art, the aunt is really something. ”; “Such a large-scale exhibition, does the aunt collect tickets?”; “This is true. The kidnap ransom." and “Truth and universal values will definitely win out in the end!"
Tu Fu, an activist: “This issue has inspired a lot of people to pay attention to civil rights. Many people, like us, rushed to the front lines to tell civilians about similar issues and to let them know that we need their support. When something happens, we cannot always be onlookers. It’s actually an opportunity for us to participate in person. He (Ai Weiwei) is being persecuted on a fabricated charge. Now that he is encountering difficulties, we certainly have an obligation to stand by him, resisting the Beijing authorities.”
A young student posted a note online saying that he would be willing to eat instant noodles for a month, in order to save money to “lend” to Ai’s mother. One netizen asked if the fines could be paid in cash. If so, he would lend Ai 200, 50-cent coins. “If everyone lent 50-cent coins, the CCP’s Inland Revenue Dept. would need over a dozen trucks to haul the coins to bestow on a dense crowd of the 50 Cent Party at their gate. What a grand sight!”
NTD reporters Lin Li, Liang Xin and Xiao Yu