Drew Pavlou is an Australian activist, philosophy student and Senate member of the University of Queensland. Mr Pavlou has faced consistent harassment, abuse and suspension for criticising the university’s strong links with Chinese Government organisations, notably the Confucius Institute from which the university gains 20% of its revenue. Specifically, the student questioned how this funding may impact the institution’s ability to teach freely.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Hong Kong, for which Whitehouse Consulting acts as secretariat, invited Drew Pavlou to share his experiences in a webinar hosted by Baroness Bennett on 14th July. Speaking alongside Pavlou was Dr Andreas Fulda, Senior Fellow at the University of Nottingham and prominent academic voice in the area of China and academic freedom, and an anonymous student from Sheffield University who has faced similar adversities and harassment in the UK.
This webinar investigated concerns raised by these reports and the subsequent implications for academic freedom, freedom of speech, freedom to protest and other political freedoms that underpin the Western world. We investigate the iceberg that Drew Pavlou’s case sheds light upon and how it typifies the danger that China poses to the world.
Please find the full webinar here:
The Whitehouse team are experts in providing public affairs advice and political analysis to a wide range of clients, not only in the United Kingdom, but also across the member states of the European Union and beyond. For more information, please contact our Chair, Chris Whitehouse, at chris.whitehouse@whitehousecomms.com.
