TAIPEI (AP).- Taiwan’s president urged China on Friday to respect the artistic freedom of outspoken Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who was detained for nearly three months earlier this year and is currently confined to Beijing. “He’s an artist and should have the freedom to express his artistic views,” President Ma Ying-jeou said after viewing Ai’s exhibition at a Taipei museum. “This is also the core value of Taiwan.” Ma said he deplored that Chinese police detained Ai at the Beijing airport on April 3 as the conceptual artist was about to depart for Taiwan to prepare for the exhibit. The detention came during a sweeping Chinese crackdown on activists and sparked an international outcry over China’s deteriorating human rights situation. Ai was released in June but is prohibited from leaving Beijing. China’s government says Ai was detained on tax evasion charges. However, activists say he