Famous Chinese Artist Slammed For Anti-Vaxxer Video, Says Vaccine Mandates Are ‘Very Dangerous’

Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei is facing backlash over a social media post that appeared to suggest he was skeptical of vaccines.

The video, which was uploaded on Instagram Thursday, showed a group of men dancing to a drum and accordion on a hilltop with the phrase, "Me and my friends living off the grid after refusing the vaccine," superimposed on the clip.

"In defense of freedom of [the] press and human rights," Ai, 64, wrote as the caption, adding the hashtags #RunForOurRights and #treadmill.

The hashtags were in reference to the Run For Our Rights social media campaign that Ai started to show his support for freedom of the press and the currently-imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after the latter gifted the Chinese artist a treadmill.

However, the hashtag #RunForOurRights has been used by anti-vaccine campaigners on Instagram to voice their opposition to mandatory vaccination even before Ai included it in the caption of his video, which has since received more than 125,000 views.

The artist received criticism from his followers over the post, with some claiming it was "disrespectful," while others said they were "disappointed" with Ai.

"No, please don’t promote no vaccination with all the deaths we have had. This is just damn disrespectful." one commenter wrote.

"I lost seven family members to this pandemic. Dancing is not the first thing I have in mind," another commented.

Others expressed their support for Ai's stance against mandatory vaccination

"Thank you for speaking up - even if it’s different than those who follow you. It’s not just about the vaccine. It’s about the mandates," one Instagram user commented on Ai's post.

Ai later explained to The Art Newspaper that he believes "for or against the vaccine should be individuals' autonomous decision" and that "society does not have the right to make [the] vaccine compulsory."

The activist said that while he has received vaccines himself, he can still "identify" with those who do not want to get vaccinated.

"If individuals are forced to be vaccinated through social pressure and public opinion, it will be a very dangerous social tendency," Ai said.

"Regardless of the type of society, individuals are entitled to accurate information and then they can voluntarily collaborate with the government or not. This decision should belong to individuals," he added.

Several countries have introduced mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for all or parts of their populations and workforces, including Austria, Italy, Greece, France, Germany, Croatia, Ecuador, Fiji, Oman, Turkey, the U.S., New Zealand, Philippines and Indonesia.

Some parts of Ai's homeland, China, have pushed for mandatory vaccines as well.

Ai currently lives in Portugal, which has reported a total of 2,997,770 COVID-19 cases and 20,354 virus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to data provided by the World Health Organization.