Renowned Chinese dissident and artist Ai Weiwei spoke out about the closure of his foundation's account at Credit Suisse, the bank’s relationship with China and what he called a history of «foul commerce».
«In spring 2021, I received a surprising notice from another kind of Western institution, Credit Suisse,» said Ai Weiwei in an op-ed on art market website «Artnet». «The bank informed me that it was terminating my account in Switzerland.»
According to Ai, the bank claimed that the closure was made in accordance with a new policy of closing all accounts with people who have had criminal records, though he said that this did not apply to him.
«They believed (or pretended to believe?) that I had been convicted of a crime in China,» said the 64-year old artist and designer of the 2008 Beijing Olympics’ stadium. «Just a bit of homework could have shown them that I was never formally charged, let alone convicted of a crime. When the Beijing regime detained me and smeared my name, it was only applying its normal techniques of persecuting political opponents.»
«20-Minuten» Interview
But by June 24 this year, Ai said that the bank called and explicitly cited a recent interview with Swiss daily «20-Minuten» as the reason for account closure.
«This interview, in which I criticized the Swiss people for voting in ever more anti-immigrant policies, has had repercussions across the social spectrum in Switzerland,» Ai explained.
«[Ex-colonel and FDP member Roger E. Schärer] believes my testimony constitutes a criminal offense and wants to file a criminal complaint against me for violating Switzerland’s Rassismusstrafnorm, an anti-racism law, unless I apologize.»
«Magical Strategy»
On Credit Suisse, Ai suggested that its move to close his foundation’s account was part of a broader strategy to improve relations with China, highlighting the bank’s plans to triple headcount in the mainland, obtain majority control of its securities joint venture and apply for wealth management and investment banking licenses.
«Credit Suisse was already well aware of a magical strategy in China; hire ‘princelings’– offspring of top Communists – in order to pave the way to success in business,» Ai said, underlining a $77 million payment in 2018 to settle a U.S. bribery probe into its hiring of those that have close ties with senior officials in China and elsewhere in Asia to win business.
«[B]ehind the strong organizational structure of the Communist Party of China, there has arisen an immensely complex web of private interests of the highest-ranking Party families and their minions in the bureaucracies. No item of business with a foreign country can possibly go forward without involvement with this web. Shared corruption is the name of the game, and the pattern is so common as to be accepted as commonplace.»
«Foul Commerce»
Ai called Credit Suisse an «old hand» in «foul commerce», citing a class action suit in 1996 that accused the bank of intentionally hiding assets that originally belonged to Holocaust victims; a Simon Wiesenthal Center announcement on the discovery of a list in Argentina of 12,000 Nazi persons or organizations with accounts holding purloined funds; and a clientele that includes IG Farben, producer of Zyklon-B gas.
«Switzerland has long enjoyed privileges on the world stage that derive from its reputation for neutrality,» Ai added.
«In practice, however, its banks have used ‘neutrality' as a label under which to nestle as they quietly side with the powerful and reap indecent benefits. It is no secret in China that high-level officials maintain covert bank accounts with Credit Suisse. That fact alone should dispel any doubts about its 'neutral position’.»
