Australian student leader suspended for anti-China activism 

By Choekyi Lhamo

DHARAMSHALA, June 1: A 20-year old philosophy student, Drew Pavlou, has been suspended for two years from the University of Queensland (UQ) in Australia for his on-campus anti-China activism supporting Hong Kong, Tibet, and East Turkistan. The second hearing took place on May 20 after Drew Pavlou reportedly left the previous meeting after about an hour citing “procedural unfairness”.

Pavlou’s activism on the campus got him elected to the university’s governing senate, giving him a platform to criticize restrictions placed on free speech due to China’s heavy-handedness in the Australian university. The university ordered his suspension on Friday which will last until 2020, the year his position on the senate expires. He was accused of 11 allegations of misconduct in a detailed 186-page document that focused mainly on his “unorthodox and combative” comments on social media.

“Refusing to provide exonerating evidence, calling no witnesses and providing no reasoning during a secret hearing no one was supposed to know about. What an amazing standard UQ has set in regards to transparency- atleast by Beijing standards,” wrote Pavlou on his Instagram handle after the suspension was announced. He also tweeted that he would launch an immediate appeal.

UQ’s relationship with China has long been criticized by the student activist. The Chinese government co-founded four courses offered by the university, which is also home to one of Australia’s many Confucius Institutes, a Beijing funded education centres accused of spreading party propaganda.

UQ has maintained that the hearing had no relation to Pavlou’s criticism of their relationship with China. “There are aspects of the findings and the severity of the penalty which personally concern me,” UQ Chancellor Peter Varghese said Friday. “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.”

In July last year, Drew Pavlou organized a rally in the campus which resulted in violent clashes between pro-Hong Kong and pro-Beijing students. In March, he posted a photograph of himself on social media platforms in a biosafety suit outside the university’s Confucius Institute accusing the Chinese government of “giving us the pandemic.”

A member of UQ Senate, Pavlou has also been a vocal supporter of the Free-Tibet movement, the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, and has condemned China for its treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. He maintains that his opposition to the university’s contract with the controversial Confucius Institute, and his public comments critical of the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Peter Hoj, led to his two-year suspension.