From Wikipedia, May 05, 2011:

South China Morning Post reports that Ai received at least two visits from the police, the last being on 31 March - three days before his detention - apparently with offers of membership to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. A staff member recalled that Ai had mentioned receiving the offer earlier, "[but Ai] didn't say if it was a membership of the CPPCC at the municipal or national level, how he responded or whether he accepted it or not."[60]

On 24 February, amid an online campaign for Middle East-style protests in major Chinese cities by overseas dissidents, Ai posted on his Twitter account: "I didn’t care about jasmine at first, but people who are scared by jasmine sent out information about how harmful jasmine is often, which makes me realize that jasmine is what scares them the most. What a jasmine!"[61][62]

The caption（Chinese:草泥马挡中央) to AI's self-portrait has a double meaning. It can be interpreted as: "Fuck your mother, the 

Communist party central committee

".

[63]

On 3 April, Ai was arrested just before catching a flight to Hong Kong and his studio facilities were searched.[64] A police contingent of approximately 50 officers came to his studio, threw a cordon around it and searched the premises. They took away laptops and the hard drive from the main computer; along with Ai, police also detained eight staff members and Ai's wife, Lu Qing. Police also visited the mother of Ai's two year-old son.[65] While state media originally reported on 6 April that Ai was arrested at the airport because "his departure procedures were incomplete,"[66] the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on 7 April that Ai was arrested under investigation for alleged economic crimes.[67] Then, on 8 April, police returned to Ai's workshop to examine his financial affairs.[68]On 9 April, Ai's accountant, as well as studio partner Liu Zhenggang and driver Zhang Jingsong, disappeared,[69]while Ai's assistant Wen Tao has remained missing since Ai's arrest on 3 April.[70] Ai's wife said that she was summoned by the Beijing Chaoyang district tax bureau, where she was interrogated about his studio's tax on 12 April.[60] A Beijing-controlled newspaper in Hong Kong announced that Ai was under arrest for tax evasion, bigamy, and spreading indecent images on the internet. Supporters said "the article should be seen as a mainland media commentary attacking Ai, rather than as an accurate account of the investigation

South China Morning Post reports that Ai received at least two visits from the police, the last being on 31 March - three days before his detention - apparently with offers of membership to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. A staff member recalled that Ai had mentioned receiving the offer earlier, "[but Ai] didn't say if it was a membership of the CPPCC at the municipal or national level, how he responded or whether he accepted it or not."[60]

On 24 February, amid an online campaign for Middle East-style protests in major Chinese cities by overseas dissidents, Ai posted on his Twitter account: "I didn’t care about jasmine at first, but people who are scared by jasmine sent out information about how harmful jasmine is often, which makes me realize that jasmine is what scares them the most. What a jasmine!"[61][62]

The caption（Chinese:草泥马挡中央) to AI's self-portrait has a double meaning. It can be interpreted as: "Fuck your mother, the Communist party central committee".[63]

On 3 April, Ai was arrested just before catching a flight to Hong Kong and his studio facilities were searched.[64] A police contingent of approximately 50 officers came to his studio, threw a cordon around it and searched the premises. They took away laptops and the hard drive from the main computer; along with Ai, police also detained eight staff members and Ai's wife, Lu Qing. Police also visited the mother of Ai's two year-old son.[65] While state media originally reported on 6 April that Ai was arrested at the airport because "his departure procedures were incomplete,"[66] the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on 7 April that Ai was arrested under investigation for alleged economic crimes.[67] Then, on 8 April, police returned to Ai's workshop to examine his financial affairs.[68]On 9 April, Ai's accountant, as well as studio partner Liu Zhenggang and driver Zhang Jingsong, disappeared,[69]while Ai's assistant Wen Tao has remained missing since Ai's arrest on 3 April.[70] Ai's wife said that she was summoned by the Beijing Chaoyang district tax bureau, where she was interrogated about his studio's tax on 12 April.[60] A Beijing-controlled newspaper in Hong Kong announced that Ai was under arrest for tax evasion, bigamy, and spreading indecent images on the internet. Supporters said "the article should be seen as a mainland media commentary attacking Ai, rather than as an accurate account of the investigation