Student activist Drew Pavlou slams Chinese Ambassador to Cyprus over ‘bizarre statement’
Student activist Drew Pavlou has lambasted comments from the Chinese Ambassador to Cyprus about him, slamming the “attacks”. It comes as the student activist’s appeal over his suspension from UQ is to be decided today.
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STUDENT activist Drew Pavlou has lambasted comments from the Chinese Ambassador to Cyprus about him, slamming the “attacks”.
Chinese Ambassador to Cyprus, Huang Xingyuan published a column in The Cyprus Mail, titled “The definition of hero in my mind”, which questioned whether Pavlou’s activism as “heroic” as recent local articles had profiled him.
“It is not heroic at all to be blindly impulsive, to be supportive of riots, to be a maverick without principles, or to oppose China at every opportunity regardless of history, facts and common sense,” the column said.
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“ … These are not the qualities of a hero who dreams of saving the world, but signs of being brainless, ignorant, unscrupulous and obsessive. I do not want to see Drew Pavlou go further down this wrong path.”
The 21-year-old Australian born University of Queensland (UQ) who has Cypriot heritage said it was a “bizarre statement” which endorsed his suspension, and “very telling” of Chinese diplomacy.
“It is very telling of the Chinese state’s fascist blood-and-soil worldview that they would direct their ambassador to Cyprus to attack an Australian activist due to their Cypriot heritage”.
Australia Human Rights Watch director Elaine Pearson said the student was “really getting under the skin of the Chinese government” commenting on social media about China’s Ambassador to Cyprus dedicating the column to Pavlou.
The self-professed “anti-Chinese Communist Party” activist faces 11 allegations of misconduct over which he is appealing a two-year suspension, the outcome of which is set to be determined today.
Mr Pavlou led a protest in support of Hong Kong’s democracy movement and in criticising UQ’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party at the institution on July 24, 2019, during which he was allegedly assaulted by pro-Beijing supporters.
Mr Pavlou said he believed the University would uphold its suspension, which he said was still in effect an expulsion but either way would continue action against UQ.
“We will still proceed with the Supreme Court case because they still need to answer for the months of hell they’ve put me through,” he said.
The 21-year-old philosophy, English literature and history student also filed civil proceedings against the university, its Chancellor Peter Varghese and Vice-Chancellor Peter Høj for $3.5 million in damages. No defence has been filed yet.
Originally published as Student activist Drew Pavlou slams Chinese Ambassador to Cyprus over ‘bizarre statement’