China Consul-General to face UQ student’s claims in court

It’s the word this Brisbane university student says sanctioned violence and even death threats against him. Now his complaint has led to China’s most senior representative in Queensland facing court.

CHINA’S most senior representative in Queensland is expected to face court tomorrow after a 20-year-old university student accused him of inciting sickening death threats and assaults by publicly labelling him an anti-China separatist.

University of Queensland student Drew Pavlou was the organiser of a series of demonstrations at UQ in support of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and claims Dr Xu Jie, the Consul-General of the People’s Republic of China in Brisbane, labelled him a “separatist” in an online post – a crime which can attract the death penalty in China.

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Mr Pavlou claims the comments from Jie, who has also been appointed as an adjunct professor at UQ, sparked a slew of physical attacks and threats against him and his family from pro-China supporters.

“The use of that term (separatist) .. basically served to sanction assaults against me and death threats against me,” Mr Pavlou told The Courier-Mail.

“I received dozens of death threats in the days that followed, threats against my family’s lives, my life. The threats have not really ceased.”

UQ student Drew Pavlou. Picture: Annette Dew

Mr Pavlou has lodged an application under the Peace and Good Behaviour Act seeking an apology and a retraction of the comments, which were posted to the Consul General’s web page saying: “… a small number of people with ulterior motives carried out anti-China separatist activities at the University of Queensland in Australia, causing indignation and protest from overseas Chinse student the mainland and Hong Kong”.

“The Consulate General regards highly the importance of the safety of the Overseas Chinese students and affirms the self-motivated patriotic behaviour of the Overseas Chinese students,” the statement continued.

Chinese Consul-General Xu Jie (Picture: Chinese Consulate)

“The Consulate General resolutely opposes to any conduct by words or behaviour to split the country, opposes to some people using the matter described above as excuse to provoke the confrontation between students from mainland China and from Hong Kong, and to incite anti-China sentiment.”

In documents filed with the court, Mr Pavlou, who was recently elected as a university senator, says during a July 24 Market Day protest, he was assaulted twice.

“At around 12.20 I was sitting on the ground leading chants against PRC President Xi Jinping with a megaphone when a man in a sweatshirt and sunglasses ripped the megaphone and protest sign from my hands, and when I stood up to confront him he and his friend assaulted me, punching me in the ribs and the side of the head,” his affidavit says.

“Later in the day, another masked man struck me in the back of the head when my back was turned and ripped a poster criticising the Confucius Institute from my hands and tore it apart.

“The next day on 25 July 2019, (Xu Jie) published a statement in Chinese on the Consulate General of the PRC in Brisbane website praising the actions of my assailants and threatening those who expressed anti-China separatist activities.”

The Chinese Communist Party-owned Global Times also reported Xu Jie’s statement in an article which referred to Mr Pavlou by name as an organiser of the UQ protest.

While Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne described Jie’s statement as “encouraging disruptive or potentially violent behaviour”, the Chinese embassy issued a statement supporting his comments, writing: “We believe that the remarks made by the spokesman of the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Brisbane on July 25th are appropriate and measured.

“Any misinterpretation of and over-reaction to the remarks are regrettable and unacceptable.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne

Mr Pavlou wrote in his affidavit: “The PRC embassy in Canberra has therefore instructed the defendant and any person procured by way of his threatening statement to ignore Senator Marise Payne’s comments that I am to be protected while I exercise my right to free speech and peaceful and lawful protest.”

The matter will be heard in the Brisbane Magistrates Court tomorrow.

The university issued a statement saying the appointment of honorary and adjunct professors was common practice, and there were no plans for Jiu to teach students as part of his appointment.

“While our long-running practices have not given us reasons for concern, the chancellor and vice-chancellor agreed that UQ’s future approach to honorary professor and adjunct professor positions be reviewed,” the statement said.

“UQ Senate resolved on 12 September to end the practice of offering honorary or adjunct positions to serving foreign government officials. Existing appointments would not be renewed or extended.

“The university is committed to the principles of academic freedom, freedom of expression and institutional autonomy, and we have robust systems to enable these principles.”