Australian student who led anti-Beijing protests suspended from University of Queensland for 2 years

The university in a 186-page dossier highlighted incidents of Drew Pavlou’s activism and said he had harassed other students on social media
But Chancellor Peter Varghese suggested the suspension would be reviewed next week, citing his concern with the ‘severity’ of the penalty

Australia

John Power

Published: 7:30pm, 29 May 2020

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An Australian student who led protests against Beijing at the height of the anti-government movement in Hong Kong last year has been suspended from the University of Queensland (UQ) for two years, in a move he claims is retaliation for his political activism.

Drew Pavlou, a 20-year-old philosophy student, said he was accused of 11 counts of misconduct, mostly related to claims he had damaged the university’s reputation through statements and activism concerning the protests in Hong Kong and the treatment of Uygurs in westernmost Xinjiang.

A 186-page dossier prepared by the university last month and seen by This Week in Asia highlighted social media posts by Pavlou condemning police violence in Hong Kong, an incident in which he wore a hazmat suit on campus to protest against Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and a “satirical event” in which the Chinese government-funded Confucius Institute at the university was depicted debating the treatment of Uygurs.

Drew Pavlou called his suspension a ‘travesty of justice’. Photo: Handout

The dossier also accused Pavlou of making harassing comments towards other students on social media following the death of another student, and using a marker at a campus shop without paying for it and blocking customers from being served.

A disciplinary board, made up of three academic staff and two students appointed by the vice-chancellor, announced the decision to suspend him.

Pavlou, who can re-enrol at the university in two years, described the move as “travesty of justice, a political reprisal against me for my vocal criticism of the university’s ties to the Chinese dictatorship”.

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However in a statement issued on Friday evening, UQ Chancellor Peter Varghese said the decision would be discussed next week by university leaders as there were “aspects of the findings and the severity of the penalty which personally concern me”.

“In consultation with the Vice-Chancellor, who has played no role in this disciplinary process, I have decided to convene an out-of-session meeting of UQ’s Senate next week to discuss the matter,” Varghese said.

UQ earlier denied Pavlou was being punished for his political beliefs and said it did not “seek to prevent students from expressing their views or to limit their right to freedom of speech”.

A supporter of the Hong Kong protests posts a note on a makeshift Lennon Wall at the University of Queensland on August 9, 2019. File photo: AFP

“The University’s policies are not driven by politics, and we completely reject the claims that this ongoing disciplinary matter is a free-speech issue; student disciplinary matters are initiated in response to complaints made to the University,” the university said in a statement earlier this month.

The university had previously asked Pavlou not to speak on behalf of the institution after he was one of two students elected to its top governing body, the UQ Senate, last year. The senate has 19 other members who are staff and alumni.

Pavlou, who has labelled the disciplinary proceedings against him a “kangaroo court”, had attracted the support of a number of Australian MPs and Senators and activists, including Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. An internet petition calling on UQ to drop its disciplinary action garnered some 40,000 signatures.

People gather during a protest at the University of Queensland on July 31, 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE

UQ is among a host of Australian universities to have come under scrutiny from Canberra, academics and activists over ties to China that include hosting Beijing-backed Confucius Institutes, which provide language and cultural education but are viewed by critics as toeing Beijing’s line on sensitive topics such as the Tiananmen Square crackdown and Tibet.

In July, Australian Education Minister Dan Tehan said the government was looking into whether the institutes should be included on the country’s foreign influence register, which was introduced in 2018 amid allegations of Chinese meddling in the country’s politics and society.

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China has repeatedly rejected claims of interference in Australia, and bilateral ties have soured in recent weeks.

UQ was the scene of clashes between students supporting anti-government protesters in Hong Kong and pro-Beijing counter-demonstrators last year. In July, it attracted controversy after it appointed Xu Jie, the Chinese consul-general in Brisbane, as a visiting professor, an unpaid, non-teaching position.

The university said at the time such appointments were “common practice” and intended to “help broaden the university’s Australian and international community”.

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