The Christian Science Monitor reports that Ai Weiwei has seen an outpouring of support from ordinary Chinese eager to help defend him against the government’s tax fine:

Thousands of individual donors swamped dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s Internet account Friday, offering to help him pay a $2.4 million tax bill he was handed earlier this week, in a striking show of defiance against the government.

“It’s amazing,” Mr. Ai said in an interview. “This has become a big movement.”

More than 1,600 supporters had pledged or paid more than 400,000 RMB ($63,500) by mid-afternoon on Friday, just a few hours after the wave of donations began to surge, the artist said.

In defiant gesture, Chinese surge forward to help Ai Weiwei pay tax bill (Christian Science Monitor)