China Raises Concern over Racist Attacks in Australia, too

Joining India in concerns over racist attacks on foreign students in Australia, China has asked Canberra to provide better protection to overseas students to ensure their “legitimate rights”.

After recent attacks on Indian students in Australia, Chinese embassy counsellor Liu Jin said that his government was actively intervening to ensure safety of their nationals.

Talking to the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’, Liu said that there are over 130,000 Chinese students in Australia, who, on the whole, had good study and living environment, but attacks on Chinese students also occurred in recent years.

Though the Chinese envoy refused to list the number of attacks and where they took place, his remarks raised concerns in the education sector over the future of the 15.5 billion Australian dollars overseas student industry.

Chinese students are one of the largest communities studying in Australia.

“It is hoped that the Australian government will provide better protection to international students from China and other countries and ensure their legitimate rights in Australia,” Liu said.

According to the report, universities fear that Australia’s third-largest export industry is at risk of crippling sanctions from the Chinese and Indian governments.