After Ai Weiwei was detained at Beijing international airport on April 3, his family spent weeks trying to find out his whereabouts – to no avail. Then suddenly on Sunday, his wife Lu Qing got a visit from the police.

"She was brought by car to a building," Ai Weiwei’s sister Gao Ge told reporters on Monday. "We don’t know where to exactly. Then she was brought into a room where there was only a table and they sat opposite each other."

Lu Qing, who said on Monday she did not want to talk to any reporters, told her sister-in-law that she had only been allowed to talk about personal matters with her husband.

One of Ai Weiwei’s lawyers, Liu Xiaozuan, spoke to Deutsche Welle and explained that he had seen Lu Qing. "The place where she saw Ai Weiwei was not a jail. She said that he was not handcuffed or wearing a prison uniform. She said that he seemed very stable psychologically. Therefore, I don't think he can have been tortured.

"His state of health is not particularly good and his blood pressure is high. But he did say that his blood pressure was often measured and he had been given medication. He can also go for walks. So it sounds like he could be under some kind of house arrest."

Treated in a civilized way

Ai Weiwei’s mother told Deutsche Welle she was very reassured that somebody in the family had gained access to him "finally."

"We are very pleased," she said. "We saw him but did not talk much. We wanted to see him and understand how his mood was, how his health is. He seems to be OK. He has probably been treated in a civilized manner."

"That is a first step," Gao Ge said explaining that there had been some rumors of torture. She reported that "Ai Weiwei was very emotional at the beginning of the meeting but then he got a grip on himself."

"He is most worried about my health," Ai Weiwei's mother told Deutsche Welle, explaining why he was so upset at first. "Lu Qing told him I was OK. But he knows that's a lie. He knows me and knows my motherly love is so great that I must be suffering for him. He probably did not believe Lu Qing when she said I was OK. How could I be OK?"

Arrested for 'economic crimes'

The government has given little information about Ai since his arrest, issuing statements saying only that he was under investigation for "economic crimes," which his family has said are an unfounded excuse to silence his criticism of the government.

Ai Weiwei has been very outspoken about many issues, ranging from last year's awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo to curbs on the Internet.

In February, overseas Chinese websites, inspired by the anti-authoritarian uprisings across the Arab world, called for similar "jasmine" protests across China. Beijing subsequently launched another wave of repression against dissent. Ai Weiwei's arrest is seen to be part of these tougher measures.

Criticism from the West

The artist's arrest has prompted criticism from many Western nations, while in Germany his detention has triggered calls to close down an Enlightenment art exhibition sponsored by German museums in Beijing.

Last week, a senior Chinese diplomat, on a visit to Hungary, defended Ai's detention, saying that it was "very condescending for the Europeans to come in to tell China that some people are beyond the law."

Author: Ziphora Robina (dpa/rtr/AP)

Editor: Anne Thomas