A police vehicle patrols near the bus interchange stop in Woden, where two Chinese students were attacked, in Woden, southern Canberra, on Oct. 27, 2017. Canberra, Australia's national capital, has long bragged itself for being "the safest capital city in the world". But it had its moment of embarrassment as two Chinese high school students were bashed unprovoked in one of the city's busiest bus interchange earlier this week. (Xinhua/Xu Haijing)
by Xu Haijing, Zhao Bo
CANBERRA, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Canberra, Australia's national capital, has long bragged itself for being "the safest capital city in the world". But it had its moment of embarrassment as two Chinese high school students were bashed unprovoked in one of the city's busiest bus interchange earlier this week.
Two Chinese students studying in local high schools were waiting for their bus at the Woden interchange stop in southern Canberra while at least two local teenagers approached them and asked for cigarettes.
Local Chinese language media reported that when the Chinese boys said they didn't have any, the local youngsters shouted racist word and when the Chinese boys responded, they were attacked.
As they were outnumbered, the Chinese students suffered from cuts and bruises and one of them were taken into nearby Canberra Hospital and had been hospitalized for two nights.
The incident was first shared on local Chinese language WeChat platform and then were reported by local Chinese media on Thursday. English language media such as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the Canberra Time all picked up the story on Friday.
The Chinese embassy in Canberra were contacted after the incident. Consulate officials from the embassy offered assistance and contacted local government agencies, which were urged to have timely investigations of the incident.
"The embassy has expressed concerns to relevant agencies of the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) government, and urged them to conduct timely investigations and fair treatment, and to take every possible measures to protect the safety and legal rights of Chinese students in Australia," said a statement by the embassy.
Local Chinese community leaders also made inquiries with ACT police and ACT Education Directorate, prompting the police and Education Directorate to hold meetings attending by Chinese students, carers and others.
As response, ACT police said in a statement released Friday afternoon that the police has beefed up patrol of the interchange and surrounding areas.
A police van was seen patrolling the area on Friday afternoon. One of the two police officers in the van told Xinhua that up to nine police officers were patrolling this area on Thursday when there were noticeable increase in the numbers of local teenagers and Chinese students congregations at the bus interchange.
ACT police confirmed in the media release that two local teenagers have appeared before the ACT Children's Court on Friday. But a policewoman answering the media hotline refused to give further information as the case is already in court process.
ACT Education Directorate also denied reports that some of its staff had told the victims not to talk to media about the incident.
In an email response to Xinhua's questions, Kaarin Dynon of ACT Education's media team said she is not aware of any such interaction and "it is certainly not a policy of the Education Directorate to make such statements to students".
"What the Education Directorate has sought to do is to provide as much support to students as we can and encouraged them to seek out the support they need during this time. This is a terrible incident and the claims made by students about ongoing issues are concerning to everyone in the school community."
However, some Chinese students complained on social media platform that they don't feel they've got enough support from the education directorate as education officials asked the students to look introspectively for reasons why they've attacked.
Dynon also denied the allegation, saying that "no victim of assault should ever feel that they are the cause of the assault and any form of assault is unacceptable in our society."
The ACT authorities are treating this incident as an individual one and stresses that Canberra is safe to stay.
Dynon said the directorate is not aware of other incidents like this one occurring outside of this week. "We are aware of four incidents over the course of this week that relate this matter."
There are currently 11 members of staff in the International Education Unit of the ACT Education Directorate, which supervises international students in high schools and colleges.
Dynon said her department is not the exclusive supervisor, as host families also play a very important role in the care and support of students, and they are ultimately responsible for their supervision outside of education hours.
In year 2017, there are 475 Chinese students attending high schools and colleges in Canberra, a 44- percent increase from 330 students in 2013.
On its website, ACT Education Directorate says Canberra is a "safe, friendly, attractive, convenient and multicultural environment in which to study and live."
