Sydney [Photo/Chinanews.com]

A group of "Tibetan students" and "former political prisoners" attacked the Chinese Consulate and tore down the Chinese flag on Wednesday in Sydney, capital of Australia. There were 50 troublemakers in total, eight of whom have already been arrested by Australian police, according to some western media.

Reports say that they were demonstrating outside the Chinese Consulate on Jul. 22. The situation took a turn for the worse when two trucks exited through the main gate, at which point some of the demonstrators took the opportunity to charge into the courtyard. Afterwards, an Australian police spokesman released a statement stating that eight of the intruders have been charged with trespassing. Among them, a 38-year-old woman was also charged with assault for attacking a member of the consulate staff.

This kind of violent behavior against the Chinese Consulate should be strongly condemned. Despite Australian police making arrests, failure to prevent such an attack is tantamount to serious negligence of duty, resulting in loss of the consulate. This is the responsibility of Australia and they must offer an apology to China.

In recent years there have been a number of attacks on Chinese embassies and consulates by "Tibetan separatists". Australia has always had problems with extreme Tibetans causing trouble; so Australian police should be vigilant. Looking at the facts, they obviously didn’t make sufficient efforts to prevent the events on 22nd from happening.

There is anti-Western sentiment in China, but there hasn’t been an attack on a European, US or Australian embassy or consulate in China, by Chinese or foreign demonstrators, for years. The West prides itself on a strict and impartial legal system, but they can’t even effectively protect the Chinese Consulate, which is shameful.

Sydney is Australia’s largest city and is the face of Australian politics and culture. To a certain extent, "Tibetan separatists" carrying out a violent attack of such nature on the Chinese Consulate is down to the tolerance in Australia, which stems from the Australian officials’ dubious attitude in long-term handling of the separatists.

Australia needs to punish these "Tibetan separatist" thugs severely to teach them a proper lesson and to prevent future attacks on other Chinese organizations in Australia. If they let the attackers off lightly, it will encourage them to carry out further attacks on Chinese targets in Australia.

If Australia is a civilized country, it should protect Chinese institutions in Australia in the same that China protects Australian institutions in China. Australia must deliver here, as this is the least they can do.