According to Western media, a group of Tibetan students and former political prisoners stormed the Chinese consulate in Sydney and pulled down the Chinese national flag on Wednesday. Eight of the over 50 rioters were arrested by Australian police.

The group reportedly gathered outside the gate of the consulate and was holding a scheduled peaceful protest. A sudden turn occurred when the gate of the consulate opened to let a truck through. Some protesters took the chance and rushed into the forecourt. Spokesperson of the Australian police later issued a statement, saying that the eight intruders were charged with trespass, among which a 38-year-old female was also accused of common assault. She allegedly attacked a consular official. 

We strongly reprimand such violent acts. Although the Australian police arrested the rioters afterward, they conducted a serious dereliction of duty by not stopping the attack. Therefore, Australia should offer an apology to China. 

The recent years have witnessed a number of assaults against local Chinese consulates by “Tibetan independence” forces overseas. Radical Tibetans have plotted activities in Australia for a long time and the Australian police should be vigilant toward this. But unfortunately, they haven’t made sufficient efforts to prevent the assaulting incident.

There are also many anti-West activists in China. However, no assaults against consulates of the Western countries have occurred in recent years. The West boasts its rule of law, but it failed to effectively protect China’s consulates. This shames it. 

As the biggest city of Australia, Sydney is the billboard of Australia’s political and cultural configuration. The “Tibetan independence” forces dared to conduct violence against Chinese consulate there because they sensed the tolerance of such act. The ambiguous attitude toward the “Tibetan independence” question the Australian government has taken is one of the reasons for their misperception. 
Australia this time needs to strictly punish the “Tibetan independence” mobs in accordance with law. Only by doing so can the Tibetan separatists be taught a real lesson and be definitely stopped from attacking Chinese institutions in Australia again. 
If Australia is an advanced civilization, it should, and must, offer security guarantees to Chinese institutions in Australia just as Australian institutions in China have received. This is not an unreasonable requirement. 

This is an editorial of the Chinese edition of the Global Times on Wednesday. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn