The power of the Press !

First it was Indian students being racially abused in Melbourne.  Now it is Chinese students being attacked on a train in Sydney.  When these events make the news stands in their home countries the repercussions are out of all proportion to what the statistics show.

In the Sydney incident, two Chinese students were physically and verbally attacked by a teenage gang of boys and girls ranging from fourteen to nineteen years old.   It is reported that this gang tried to rob passengers on a late night train and one victim - who had obvious racist tendencies - suggested they rob the Chinese students instead -  " because they have lots of money ".

It would be interesting to learn just how many other robberies took place on trains on that particular night.  This incident made headline news - here and in China - simply because it followed racist incidents in Melbourne which are no longer news.   Enterprising reporters are always looking for a good story - and perhaps it was a slow day in the news room - but that story did a lot of damage to Australia's reputation in China.

The Indian incidents saw a sharp decline in Indian student numbers heading to Australian universities, and it is possible that some Chinese families will have second thoughts about sending their sons and daughters here as a result.

Unfortunately the publicity is likely to inspire further attacks because of the " copycat appeal " that attracts some people to feed their need for fame.   They get their kicks about reading reports in the media - about the crimes they have committed.    This manifests itself in arsonists who light bushfires and gloat over the damage caused, and in a more minor way - by graffiti people who deface property and enjoy the howls of public indignation that result.

There is no doubt that a percentage of the Australian population has racist tendencies.  Chinese student leaders in Australia comment that it is not unusual for people with obvious Chinese features to get the odd disparaging remark, but they agree that physical violence is unusual - and when it happens it is usually a matter of " being in the wrong place at the wrong time ".

Australia has no defence against incidents of this kind.   There will always be drunken, out of control youths and racially embittered older people who will offend.   The best we can do is to thoroughly investigate each and every incident - and make sure the perpetrators get appropriate punishment.

The good news is that student leaders recognise that the odd racist incident is inevitable when they visit a foreign country - but  concede that Australia is still one of the safest countries in the world for foreign students to attend university !