In a SPIEGEL interview, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, 56, discusses how the authorities monitor his movements in sometimes bizarre detail and the feud with the government in Beijing that has kept him from being allowed to leave the country for three years now.

SPIEGEL: Chinese fighter jets have been flying over islands in the East China Sea since November, a few weeks ago a Chinese spacecraft landed on the moon - and now a Chinese helicopter rescued a group of tourists in Antarctica. China is looking pretty strong and powerful these days.

Ai: That only makes it more dangerous. If a master, a wise and experienced man, wields a great weapon, that's beautiful. He can serve peace with it. But if someone's emotions are imbalanced, even if he has the best equipment, he will still mean danger. Modern technology requires calm. You shouldn't trust anyone with a car who has no knowledge about vehicles or roads.

SPIEGEL: So China's political leadership doesn't have its feelings under control?

Ai: The whole system - not just the political leadership, the military too, the whole power structure, our education system, the whole of society - is suffering from being cut off from the free flow of information. That's why the country can't face up to open competition - unless it resorts to measures like North Korea.

SPIEGEL: What's wrong with China's education system? According to the OECD's most recent Pisa study, an international ranking of education systems, students in Shanghai are the world's best in arithmetic, natural sciences and in reading.

Ai: I think our system is hollow and empty. Let's talk about humanity, individualism, imagination and creativity - those are the values a society is built on. What education are we getting, what dreams do we dream? I deal with students every day - from China, Germany, the United States, Hong Kong and Taiwan. And I've noticed that the Chinese students are the least trained in having a sense of aesthetics. They lack any ability to sense what is beautiful or what is proper. They can be learned and skillful, but they lack the ability to make their own free judgment. It is really sad to see young adults of 20, 25 years who were never taught to make their own decisions. People who can't do that don't get a sense of responsibility. And if you lack a sense of responsibility, you push the blame onto the system.

SPIEGEL: Why are you put under such manic surveillance? There are more than a dozen cameras around your house.

Ai: There's a unit, I think it's called "Office 608," which follows people with certain categories and degrees of surveillance. I am sure I am in the top one. They don't just tap my telephone, check my computer and install their cameras everywhere - they're even after me when I'm walking in the park with my son.

SPIEGEL: What do the people who observe you want to find out, what don't they know yet?

Ai: A year ago, I got a bit aggressive and pulled the camera off one of them. I took out the memory card and asked him if he was a police officer. He said "No." Then why are you following me and constantly photographing me? He said, "No, I never did." I said, "OK, go back to your boss and tell him I want to talk to him. And if you keep on following me, then you should be a bit more careful and make sure that I don't notice." I was really curious to see what he had on that memory card.

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