University of Queensland braces for protest over China’s Confucius Institute and free-speech concerns
- Organisers say university did not condemn violence when pro-Beijing and Hong Kong groups scuffled last week
- But others on campus say protests are just worsening domestic racism against Chinese
Canberra is currently investigating whether agreements between Australian universities and their 14 Confucius Institutes have violated anti-foreign interference laws passed last year. The Sydney Morning Herald last week published the contents of 11 Confucius Institute contracts showing several universities had given the schools ultimate control over “teaching quality”.
Hong Kong and mainland China students clash at rally at Australian university
Drew Pavlou, 20, one of the organisers of this Wednesday’s demonstration, said: “The purpose of the protest is to show we will protest for free speech no matter what. We will never be intimidated by violence.”
An 18-year-old finance student named Zhu Minghui told Australian media that the presence of non-Chinese protesters was vexing for mainland students and tensions rose after a “calm conversation” between both sides.
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The Chinese consulate in Brisbane on Thursday blamed the incident on a small group of people with “ulterior motives” conducting anti-China activities. The consulate would pay attention to the matter and “resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese students”, it said in a statement on its website.
On Saturday, Australian foreign minister Marise Payne said the government would be “particularly concerned if any foreign diplomatic mission were to act in ways that could undermine” free speech or peaceful protest – comments that analysts read as a thinly veiled retort to the consulate.
A student from Hong Kong, who asked that her name be withheld as she feared being doxxed online or physically assaulted, said she and other Hongkongers at the university were concerned about possible reprisals by nationalist Chinese students. She said pro-Hong Kong protesters had seen their personal information such as marriage certificates and passports circulated on Chinese social media.
“You wouldn’t have imagined that someone was going to attack you in front of hundreds of people,” she said, referring to the clashes last week. “Now I’m left wondering, when I’m alone walking on campus, what is going to happen when I meet a bunch of Chinese students and they become aggressive?”
Ji Davis, another organiser, said a climate of fear had taken hold on campus, with many of his peers admitting they were afraid to openly express their views about the Chinese government.
“There are a lot of reasons for people to feel like they are not actually safe speaking freely on campus,” the 20-year-old said. “It’s disgraceful that in Australia it has come to this.”
Pavlou said he had received death threats since last week’s protest, with one message referring to the philosophy student, who is of Greek heritage, as a “white-skinned pig” and warning he and his family would be killed. Pavlou claimed on Twitter that officials from the Chinese consulate would attend this Wednesday’s rally with facial recognition technology to identify participants.
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This Week in Asia sent queries to the Chinese consulate in Brisbane on Monday asking if it had any response to Pavlou’s claims or to Payne’s comments, but did not receive a response.
Meanwhile, in an online petition written in both English and Chinese, dozens of university alumni condemned the “violent and vandalising acts” and expressed support for the pro-Hong Kong students, their “peaceful movement and right to freedom of expression”.
A university spokesperson on Monday said the institution remained committed to free speech and had “zero tolerance for violence and intimidation”.
“We have been working with Queensland police to ensure the planned student-initiated protest this week goes ahead in a lawful and respectful manner,” the spokesperson said, adding that the administration had begun an investigation into last week’s scuffles.
“The university will share these plans tomorrow with organisers of the protest and student representatives to ensure the safety of protesters and minimise disruption to our community on the day.”
But some activist groups on campus called for the demonstration to be scrapped. The university branches of Socialist Alternative and the Australian Greens released a joint statement criticising the upcoming protest as a “nationalistic, and therefore racist, demonstration” led by “domestic students who are pursuing their own agenda”.
“We oppose all forms of racial discrimination,” said Priya De of Socialist Alternative. “There is a deep history of anti-Chinese racism in Australia, which has been given an outlet through this protest.”
