An Australian holding a sign insulting Chinese President Xi Jinping in a bustling Asian market in Sydney said he had been told by authorities that he could be blamed for the incident, although he was allegedly attacked by Chinese nationalists.
Drew Paul was filmed holding the sign that read “F *** Xi Jinping” in Chinese on Saturday at Eastwood Plaza. The marking quickly provoked an angry reaction from some buyers, some of whom expressed their frustration, according to footage from the incident on Paul’s Twitter account.
The video shows angry people facing him.
“America has genocide,” according to subtitles in a video of the incident.
WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
Another man grabs the sign and throws it on the ground. One said he “did not respect the Chinese here.” During the meeting, Paul tells the crowd that he is not violent.
He later wrote on Twitter that New South Wales police had contacted him to inform him that detectives were investigating him and that he would likely be charged.
“NSW police want to charge me for holding a sign that insulted Xi Jinping while I was campaigning in Sydney,” Lovelu wrote. “They will not even tell me what I am accused of. I am tired of the attacks on freedom of speech, Australia desperately needs a Declaration of Rights to protect free expression.”
He also wrote on Twitter about the Chinese government’s crackdown on Uighur Muslims who have been arrested and held in camps.
A police spokesman declined to confirm that Pavlou was being investigated, but said they were investigating an alleged attack during a political protest at Eastwood Plaza.
“After investigations, investigators went to an Eastwood home and spoke to a 48-year-old man at about 4.30pm this afternoon,” the police statement said. “He has been notified in court of the Common Assault and is due to appear in local Hornsby court on Wednesday.”
In a tweet, Pavlou described the threats as “bullying tactics”.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a ceremony honoring the standards of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games at the Great Hall of the People, Friday, April 8, 2022, in Beijing. An Australian has angered Shi’ite supporters by holding up a sign in Sydney insulting the communist leader. (AP Photo / Ng Han Guan)
In a Facebook post he said he made a simple remark.
CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
“I could offend a dictator like Xi Jinping in my country without being physically assaulted and attacked. Australia is a democracy and we must be free to insult any leader, no matter how brutally – this is a simple principle of freedom of speech. . ” He wrote. “Under no circumstances would I have been surrounded by 50 people and physically assaulted if I had held up a sign reading” F *** Scott Morrison “in Sydney. offends Xi Jinping? “
