President Ma visits Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei exhibition

SHOTLIST 1. Mid of two women walking past exhibition banner reading (English) "Ai Weiwei absent" 2. Close of still on display in the exhibition showing Chinese artist Ai Weiwei 3. Wide of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou walking to lectern 4. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwanese President: "He (Ai Weiwei) is an artist. He is entitled to his opinion and freedom to express his artistic point of view. These are also Taiwan's core values." 5. Mid of woman looking at one of Ai Weiwei's picture in the exhibition, which shows a finger making a derogatory gesture to Tiananmen Square 6. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwanese President: "The distance between Taiwan and China will be determined by their views on the protection of human rights. When our views get closer, the two sides will move closer. After attending this exhibition, I want to use this opportunity to stress once again our view on China's human rights situation." 7. Ma exits, UPSOUND: applause 8. Wide pan of exhibit, "Forever Bicycles" 9. Wide of people looking at the exhibit 10. Mid of Elizabeth Tsai, a docent at Taipei Fine Arts Museum 11. Mid of people in gallery 12. SOUNDBITE (English) Elizabeth Tsai, docent at Taipei Fine Arts Museum: "He can show some human rights idea by his work. And Chinese people can feel that." 13. Mid of people looking at displays 14. Mid of two women looking at exhibition which is in the shape of a close circuit camera 15. Wide of a woman looking at exhibition called "Chair" STORYLINE Taiwan's president urged China on Friday to respect the artistic freedom of outspoken Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who was detained for nearly three months earlier this year and is currently barred from leaving Beijing. "He is entitled to his opinion and freedom to express his artistic point of view," Ma Ying-jeou said after viewing an exhibition of Ai's work at a Taipei museum. Ma, who is hoping to be re-elected president in January, said he deplored Ai's treatment. "I want to use this opportunity to stress once again our view on China's human rights situation," Ma said. Chinese police detained Ai at Beijing airport on 3 April as the conceptual artist was about to depart for Taiwan to prepare for his exhibition. His arrest came during a sweeping crackdown on activists and sparked an international outcry over China's deteriorating human rights situation. Ai was released in June but is prohibited from leaving Beijing. China's government says Ai was detained on tax evasion charges. However, activists say he is being punished for his often outspoken criticism of the authoritarian government. The exhibition at Taipei's Fine Arts Museum, called "Ai Weiwei, Absent," focuses on the political significance of the artist's inability to attend. In one picture, a finger makes a derogatory gesture towards Tiananmen Square, the scene of a mass demonstration in 1989 which was crushed by the Chinese army and resulted in the deaths of several hundred people. The exhibition of 21 works also includes a white marble helmet and a surveillance camera, which Ai created to mock China as a police state. Another piece consists of one-thousand bicycles piled in layers, reflecting his perception of the rapid pace of Chinese social change. The exhibition taking place in Taiwan also has political significance of its own. Unlike the communist mainland, the island of 23 (m) million people is a democracy with few restrictions on expression. "When our views get closer, the two sides will move closer," Ma said of Taiwan's relationship with Beijing. Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949, but China still claims the self-ruled island a part of its own territory. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/b53da5ac26b396c16f917f725eebd08b Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork