The AP Interview: Exiled artist Ai Weiwei on Beijing Games

FILE - Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei poses by his sculpture "Forever Bicycles" during a press preview of his new exhibition "Rapture" in Lisbon on June 3, 2021. Ai is one of China's most famous artists, and many regard him as one of the world's greatest living artists. Working with the Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron, he helped design the Bird's Nest stadium, the centerpiece of Beijing's 2008 Summer Olympics. The stadium will also host the opening ceremony for Beijing's Winter Olympics on Feb. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File)

FILE - Chinese artist Ai Weiwei poses for the media with cast iron work entitled 'Martin 2019' at an art gallery in London on Oct. 1, 2019. Ai is one of China's most famous artists, and many regard him as one of the world's greatest living artists. Working with the Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron, he helped design the Bird's Nest stadium, the centerpiece of Beijing's 2008 Summer Olympics. The stadium will also host the opening ceremony for Beijing's Winter Olympics on Feb. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

FILE - A protective fence shows a Beijing 2008 logo outside the National Stadium, known as the "Birds Nest," in Beijing on Aug. 7, 2008. Ai is one of China's most famous artists, and many regard him as one of the world's greatest living artists. Working with the Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron, he helped design the Bird's Nest stadium, the centerpiece of Beijing's 2008 Summer Olympics. The stadium will also host the opening ceremony for Beijing's Winter Olympics on Feb. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)

FILE - Chinese artist Ai Weiwei poses for the media during an "I am a Hong Konger! Discussing Human Rights and Democracy" panel discussion hosted by the faction of the German Liberals at the Reichstag building, home of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany on Sept. 29, 2020. Ai is one of China's most famous artists, and many regard him as one of the world's greatest living artists. Working with the Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron, he helped design the Bird's Nest stadium, the centerpiece of Beijing's 2008 Summer Olympics. The stadium will also host the opening ceremony for Beijing's Winter Olympics on Feb. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)

FILE - A man and a boy walk past the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, which will again be a venue for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, in Beijing on Feb. 2, 2021. Ai is one of China's most famous artists, and many regard him as one of the world's greatest living artists. Working with the Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron, he helped design the Bird's Nest stadium, the centerpiece of Beijing's 2008 Summer Olympics. The stadium will also host the opening ceremony for Beijing's Winter Olympics on Feb. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

FILE - Fireworks explode over the National Stadium during the opening ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing on Aug. 8, 2008. Ai is one of China's most famous artists, and many regard him as one of the world's greatest living artists. Working with the Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron, he helped design the Bird's Nest stadium, the centerpiece of Beijing's 2008 Summer Olympics. The stadium will also host the opening ceremony for Beijing's Winter Olympics on Feb. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)