Author: Kobo-Daishi
Date: 05-07-12 17:59
Dear all,
This article just came to my attention.
It's an April 26, 2012 article titled "Chinese students 'at risk in Australia' " from the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper:
By Peter Cai
The controversy surrounding the alleged bashing of Chinese students in Sydney is showing no sign of abating as China's largest television network and consular officials warned that Australia was no longer safe for Chinese students.
Six people, aged 14 to 18, allegedly robbed passengers, including two Chinese students, on a train between Central and Rockdale about 12.30am on Monday.
Officers were called to Rockdale station about 15 minutes later, where they arrested three men, two aged 18 and one 19, a 14-year-old boy and two girls, aged 16 and 17.
They were all charged with a number of robbery and assault offences. The alleged robbery included racist taunts.
China Central Television, the state network with hundreds of millions of viewers throughout the country, has warned the rising youth crime rate in Australia posed a threat to the safety of Chinese students.
"Once upon a time, Australia had one of the lowest crime rates in the world and was considered one of the safest places to study. However, the safety of overseas students studying here is under threat from escalating youth crime," CCTV reported.
The news report also alerted viewers to the spate of shootings in Sydney this week and said some cases involved under-aged offenders.
The Chinese consulate-general in Sydney also posted a travel warning on its website and warned its citizens to avoid unnecessary travel after dark.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that China was very concerned about the incident and urged Australia to improve its public security.
He refused to comment on whether the Chinese government still considered Australia a safe place for Chinese students to study.
The outrage among the students community is still brewing and Fairfax Media understands that more than 3000 students have signed a petition and are considering the option of staging a rally.
A Chinese mother from Nanjiang expressed her concern over the safety of her child studying in Australia and she said she was "extremely concerned about the safety issue over there. It breaks my heart to hear about my child's fear of going home after dark."
Peak students bodies in Australia have also issued strong statements in support of their overseas peers.
"The train attack on Chinese students in Sydney over the weekend will not be a welcoming prospect for those considering to study in Australia in future and we request an inquiry into making these services safer for our valued international student cohort,” said Chamonix Terblanche, national president of the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations.
One of the victims of the attack, known as Xuan, suffered from a fractured nose and burns from a lit cigarette.
The international student from China is seeking a master's degree at the University of Technology, Sydney.
A translation from Xuan's blog on the Chinese social media site Weibo reads: "I really wish all of this is just a nightmare. However, the smell of blood in my mouth and body pains reminds me that this city is so dangerous.
"A gang of hooligans attacked us. Our noses are fractured and our bodies are covered in blood. My friend's cheekbone was crushed. They attacked us with glass and burnt us with lit cigarettes. My face is burnt and totally disfigured! Worst of all, I really hated their racist comments.
"They were calling us Asian dogs and pussies while they were beating us. When my friend tried to wipe blood from his nose, a teenaged girl stuffed my friend's mouth with her tampon removed from her pants.”
After receiving a report of the attack, former foreign affairs minister Kevin Rudd raised the issue with various interested parties, such as the Chinese ambassador in Canberra and the Minister for Immigration Chris Bowen.
The Mandarin-speaking MP also put his language prowess to use and posted sympathetic comments on the Chinese social media site Weibo.
XXXXX
The article may be found at the following link:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/chinese-students-at-risk-in-australia-20120426-1xn5v.html
It was bad enough when Indians were being curry-bashed. Now this.
This is reprehensible.
And to think a whole train load of people wouldn't even help these two students out boggles the mind.
Besides being racists, are all Australians cowards as well?
I know some are going to try to equate this with what happened to two Chinese electrical engineering grad students (See thread titled "Memorial service held for slain students" found at the following link: http://www.asiawind.com/forums/read.php?f=11&i=169489&t=169489 ) or even the death of a Chinese university student in the UK hit by a police car responding to a call (do an Internet search).
But those are two entirely different incidents not based on racial discrimination.
The case at USC was a carjacking gone wrong.
I know, I've been playing up study at USC but the truth of the matter is that USC is within the inner city.
It might be an oasis within the urban jungle but it is still within the inner city.
And though they've tried to gentrify the downtown Los Angeles around from the Staples Center down to USC, and have even dubbed it the Figueroa Corridor, it's still surrounded by very poor communities with gang problems. Latino and African-American gangs.
Why just 3 weeks after the shooting of the Chinese students, four more USC students were held up near fraternity row by a Compton gang member, Jeremy Hendricks (do an Internet search), who belongs to the Acacia Crips.
The city of Los Angeles has since beefed up security in the USC area by adding an additional 30 Los Angeles Police Department (L.A.P.D.) officers to patrol the area (see the April 26, 2012 Los Angeles Times article titled "After student slayings, a new security push around USC" found at the following link: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/04/security-usc-los-angeles.html ) but you must still be on your guard especially late at night.
There are now so many police cruisers patrolling the surrounding area, it's unbelievable.
The police presence was already considerable around USC even before.
What with campus police, public safety officers, and the LAPD.
And after the Rodney King riots (hard to believe it's been 20 years. they've been playing it up recently.) the police were visible around the entire city.
Where once you didn't see a police car for blocks, now you see them every two or three blocks.
Now, following the carjacking, I've seen more LAPD patrol vehicles than ever before. It seems like they're more ubiquitous than BMWs around SC now.
I hope the Australian government prosecutes those 6 hooligans to the full extent of the law. And the injured students sue the youthful offenders or their parents, if they're minors for compensation. Make them pay through the nose.
Kobo is just glad he wasn't on the train. Kobo would have kicked some Aussie butt. And Kobo fights dirty.
Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.
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