( CNN ) -- China 's ruling Communist party unleashed a blistering attack Wednesday on dissident artist Ai Weiwei -- and on the West for criticizing his apparent arrest . Ai has not been seen since Sunday , when he and an assistant said on Twitter that they had been taken into custody en route to Hong Kong . China broke its silence Wednesday with a pair of articles in a Communist party newspaper . One Global Times piece said he had been `` detained by police , according to overseas media reports . '' The other article , an editorial , said Ai `` has been close to the red line of Chinese law ... as long as Ai Weiwei continuously marches forward , he will inevitably touch the red line one day . '' `` He will pay a price for his special choice , which is the same in any society , '' said the editorial , which called him `` an activist , '' and `` a maverick . '' Ai , one of the country 's best-known artists , helped design the iconic Bird 's Nest stadium for the Beijing Olympics , but later called for a boycott of the 2008 games because he said China was using them as propaganda . The artist has also accused the Chinese government of trying to silence dissidents . The Global Times editorial Wednesday blasted `` Western governments and human rights institutions '' for calling for his release . It accused them of `` reckless collision against China 's basic political framework and ignorance of China 's judicial sovereignty to exaggerate a specific case , '' and failing to find out `` the truth . '' `` The West 's behavior aims at disrupting the attention of Chinese society and attempts to modify the value system of the Chinese people , '' the Global Times said . The Chinese-language version of the article is harsher , saying criticism from the West is the reason Chinese people `` loathe '' it . Ai Weiwei 's name has apparently been censored on Chinese online forums , but people are getting around the ban by using nicknames and puns , or by using his father 's and wife 's names in posts . Some also refer to him as a baker of sunflower seeds , a reference to his installation at London 's Tate Modern art museum of 100 million painted pottery sunflower seeds . Police surrounded his studio Sunday after authorities reportedly detained him at a Beijing airport . `` They crack down on everybody who has different opinions -- not even different opinions , just different attitudes , '' he told CNN last year . `` Simply to have different opinions can cost ( dissidents ) their life ; they can be put in jail , can be silenced and can disappear . '' In the past , Ai has noted that he has paid a price for his own dissent . In January , the artist said authorities placed him under house arrest to stop him from attending an event he planned after officials announced that his new studio would be demolished . `` Just recently I heard the new studio I built in Shanghai will be demolished , all because of my activities , '' Ai said at the time . `` So what is my activity ? My activity is very simple , asking basic rights for people to freely express themselves and also to find a new structure , a new way of communicating . Because I 'm an artist and this is what I do and I believe in that . '' In the past several weeks , Chinese authorities have detained and arrested a number of lawyers and human rights activists amid calls for anti-government protests similar to those that have swept the Middle East . CNN 's Eve Bower , Eileen Hsieh and Kristie Lu Stout contributed to this report .
Articles in the Communist Party newspaper fail to confirm his involvement . They warn that he will ` ` pay a price for his special choice '' The Global Times also criticized the West for interfering , saying Chinese people loathe it . Ai Weiwei helped design the 2008 Olympics Bird 's Nest logo .