Lenny Tai, 29, and two friends, Chinese international students, faced a racially fueled assault near Sydney's Central Station less than one week ago. Two women allegedly taunted them from across the street in the early hours of last Saturday. The students attempted to walk away, but the women pursued them, crossing the street to confront them directly.
The assailants swore and jeered, directing racist and sexually explicit abuse at the trio. Video footage captured one woman stating, “You wanna f---ing say that c---? In Australia? … You will never be let back in our country,” before she began shoving and grabbing the men. Tai reported being grabbed by the neck, choked, and scratched on the face during the altercation.
Tai has not left his home since the attack, now five days later. “I have nightmares every night, even last night … We couldn’t sleep well, I can’t eat, it’s painful for me to recall that night,” he told the Herald. Tai lives close to the incident site and stated, “I don’t feel safe.” Minghao Zhan, 20, another student involved, echoed these fears, saying, “I feel really scared.” Zhan added, “I think it’s not just Chinese students … These people hate Asians.”
Capital's Human Cost
The vulnerability of international students to such attacks is not an isolated phenomenon. A 2026 study by the Australian Human Rights Commission documented high levels of racism experienced by international students attending university in Australia, particularly in public places. This vilification of Chinese international students intensified after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the same study. These students, often a crucial component of the nation's education export industry, find themselves subjected to escalating racial hostility.
Despite these documented systemic issues, the state's response remains limited. Tai and Zhan reported the incident to NSW Police on the day it occurred. Police initiated an investigation into the alleged assault on the corner of Pitt Street and Hay Street in Haymarket. A police spokesperson confirmed, “The man was allegedly assaulted by two women who were unknown to him,” and noted, “The man sustained a scratch to his chin during the alleged assault.” This framing reduces a violent, racially charged incident to a minor physical injury.
The State's Complicity
The state's apparatus, through its police force, focuses on individual incidents rather than the structural conditions that foster such violence. While an investigation is underway, the broader context of systemic racism against a segment of the globalized working class goes unaddressed by these mechanisms. Tai has resided in Sydney for five years, a period during which the conditions for such racialized attacks have evidently worsened, as confirmed by the Human Rights Commission's findings. The continued presence of this documented racism highlights the state's failure to protect those whose labor and tuition fees contribute significantly to the national economy, leaving them exposed to violence and fear.