According to the Sydney Herald-Mail, at around 3 a.m. on July 25, 2026, local time, three Chinese students were subjected to racial discrimination attacks by two white women near Central Station.
Initially, one of the women repeatedly shouted at the students, “Do you want Pokémon cards?” Her tone made it seem like she was not very friendly, so she tried to leave to avoid any conflicts.
A few minutes later, the two women crossed the road towards them, beginning to insult and mock. The victims, Tai and Zhan, said that the women also engaged in racist and explicit verbal bullying against the three people.
The Australian woman who approached to provoke, Lenny Tai, provided…
In the video of the argument filmed by Zhan, one of the women said, "You will never be allowed to return to our country." Then she started pushing and grabbing these students. Tai said that one of the women squeezed his neck and scratched his face.
Chinese students were scratched by Zhan
On that day, Zhan and Tai reported the incident to the police. The New South Wales police have begun an investigation.
Back to the beginning of the incident, the so-called "Pokémon card exchange" might actually be a form of blatant racial discrimination.
Recently, on the show “Fernsehgarten,” host Andrea Kiewel saw a Pokémon card in Japanese. She first referred to it as “Chinese,” and then blurted out a phrase imitating East Asian language: “Ching Chong.”
Ching Chong is a racist slur, often used by some racists to mock people who speak Chinese, Chinese descendants, and even other East Asians with similar appearances. After the incident became public, the host publicly apologized.
After Pokémon cards became popular, they also became a vehicle for Asian stereotypes in the words of some Westerners. Therefore, considering the hostile tone used by the woman, it can be said that the incident was a form of racial discrimination from the beginning, and ultimately violence was also inflicted.
Coincidentally, there were far more instances of racial discrimination in Australia this year than just one.
In April, on Melbourne's Route 505 bus, a man maliciously insulted a Chinese mother and child.
On April 12th in Sydney's city center, a 23-year-old Chinese international student was racially abused by two women. They jointly attacked her, pulled her hair, and the girl was diagnosed with a concussion, suffering severe physical and mental harm.
In May, on a commuter train in Sydney, Mr. Li, a Chinese man, was pushed and punched in the face by a stranger, and suffered racial abuse.
Recently, while riding in Sydney’s Cooks River, a Chinese mother named Jin was racially abused by a white man who told her that dogs must be leashed when walking them. The man shouted, “Go back to China! Go back to prison!”
According to a report released by the University of Victoria in Australia, 76% of survey respondents (or those under their care) experienced racism in Australia. 15.5% of people reported racist incidents to organizations or community groups. The reason why 90.6% of victims did not report the incidents is because they “believed nothing would change” – this sense of despair points to the ineffectiveness of the law enforcement system.
Mr. Gao, who lives in Melbourne, said in an interview: "In Australia, there is extreme racial discrimination. The first group I've encountered are unemployed people, and there are also many young people. These people haven't even finished high school and wander around society as delinquents. The police often visit their homes. Some people become violent as soon as they see Asians, saying things like 'go back home'.
After ending its controversial "White Australia" policy, Australia, like most immigration countries, has attempted to implement policies for ethnic equality and multiculturalism. As early as 1975, Australia enacted the Anti-Racial Discrimination Act. Although phenomena such as implicit discrimination and occupational barriers are still common, verbal abuse and violent attacks are generally less common.
However, in recent years, due to the spread of far-right forces and the intensified competition between China and the US, various forms of blatant racial discrimination have begun to appear frequently in the public eye.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, as of June 30, 2025, the combined population from four countries with overseas birth origins—India, the United Kingdom, China, and New Zealand—accounts for more than one-third of all overseas-born Australians. Among these, the number of people from China is approximately 732,000.
On August 31, 2025, anti-immigration demonstrations called "For Australia" erupted in several cities in Australia. Organizers claimed that there was an excessive number of immigrants in Australia, which occupied housing and economic resources for locals. However, the root of the problem does not seem to lie in the excessive number of immigrants. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of new immigrants sharply decreased, but housing prices continued to soar, and medical and school resources remain insufficient.
According to The sameway, immigrants have played a key role in many core industries in Australia. There has always been a shortage of staff in the medical field, and many overseas medical professionals have filled these vacancies. Industries such as technology engineering and the internet also rely heavily on overseas graduates. They bring new technologies and ideas, driving the development of industries.
Many immigrants start their own businesses and create a large number of job opportunities. Locals benefit from this, while new immigrants can also find jobs, creating a positive economic cycle.
However, Federal Minister for Multicultural Affairs Anne Arney pointed out that there has always been a tendency in Australia: whenever there are shortages in housing and infrastructure, people habitually blame immigrants. If the root causes of this historical prejudice are not addressed, this pattern will continue to occur again.
The current situation is indeed such, she said: “Extreme right-wing and neo-Nazists are using the real concerns of people about housing shortages and high living costs to promote hatred and incite xenophobic feelings.”
In addition, Australia follows the US’s policy of deterrence against China in the field of national security. Some politicians and media have long promoted the so-called “China threat.” Under such discourse, it is easy for people to project suspicion and hostility towards Chinese communities in Australia. According to SBS reports, three Chinese photographers in Australia were photographing at an exhibition normally, but the Australian edition of The Daily Mail cited views from so-called security experts, accusing them of being spies without any evidence.
After the pandemic, discrimination against Chinese people has become even more apparent. During the pandemic, the stigmatization by some politicians planted deep-seated prejudices among the public. Online extremist statements fueled this situation, while in reality, high costs and complex procedures made it difficult for victims to take action. This situation of "cause without effect" means that discrimination remains unstoppable.
Continuous integration and transformation—As an immigrant nation, Australia itself and its political, economic, and cultural systems have also been established and developed through such contemplation. However, when the provisions of the Anti-Racial Discrimination Act are clearly written down, and 76% of victims choose to remain silent because “reporting is futile”; when victims face severe physical and mental trauma, what exactly has Australian society “contemplated”?
