Two years ago Ai Weiwei, a famous Chinese artist and architectural designer, was invited by senior Shanghai officials to build a studio in a new cultural district in the city. 

But then he went overtly political, making international headlines by quitting the consortium building the Beijing Olympic Stadium, accusing the country's leaders of trying to present a false image of the country.

He then launched a high-profile investigation into the deaths of some 5,000 schoolchildren in the Sichuan earthquake of May 2008. He was beaten a year later by Sichuan police while visiting.

This summer, after two years of construction on the studio he was invited to build, Mr. Ai was informed by Chinese officials that he did not have the proper papers for the studio and it would soon be demolished.  

Ai Weiwei responded by planning a massive party to commemorate the demolition, leading the authorities to place the artist under house arrest. 

After the event was hyped up by dissident Chinese bloggers and the international press, the authorities stepped in, placing Mr Ai under house arrest in his Beijing home until the early hours of this morning.

It is not clear exactly when Ai Weiwei's studio is set to be demolished. Help us pressure the Shanghai authorities to think twice before going ahead with it.