The nonconformist Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has blasted his government’s removal of his ‘Gangnam Style’ parody video from the China-based website it had being hosted on. 

The famous ‘horse dance’ from the Korean singer Psy's well-known video was filmed at the artist’s studio in Beijing, and was later posted on a number of video hosting sites authorised by the Chinese government, from which it was promptly removed by the country’s governing body. The parody video, called ‘Caonima’, is a reference to state control of the web and the title itself, meaning grass, mud, horse, is an insult that has been adopted by the online community in the country to describe the government’s online presence. 

The artist told Reuters: "After we had uploaded it, a few hours later ... we found that a lot of people, tens of thousands, had already watched it. Now, in China, it has already been totally removed, deleted entirely, and you can't see it in China.”

Ai, whose 84-day arrest last year caused international outcry, went on to say that Psy's ‘Gangnam Style’ song and dance should not be censored by the state for it is a show of expression and individualism. Ai himself has long been critical of, what he refers to as, his country’s violation of citizen’s rights.