China condemns attack on students in France

PARIS - The Chinese embassy on Sunday strongly condemned an attack on six Chinese students in western France, demanding French authorities bring the perpetrators to justice and ensure the safety of Chinese students in the country.

An official statement said that related Chinese government departments and the Chinese embassy in France are highly concerned about the incident.

The Chinese embassy has sent officials to Bordeaux to follow up the incident, assist the handling of related problems, visit the injured students and convey the concerns and condolences from Chinese Education Minister Yuan Guiren.

French Interior Minister Manuel Valls on Saturday condemned the attack on the six Chinese students in France's western Gironde Province, describing it as an act of xenophobia.

Valls said in a statement that the three attackers will be punished by law and the French government will provide full support for the relatives of the injured students.

According to the statement, three drunk local men attacked the six Chinese oenology students on Friday night at their home in Hostens, south of Gironde.

A female student at the age of around 20 was seriously injured in the face by a glass bottle and has already been sent to a hospital in the western city of Bordeaux for further treatment, it said.

Two of the alleged suspects have been detained, the statement added.

The six Chinese students arrived in France two months ago for a one-year training course.

French local media reported that the suspects are the neighbors of the six Chinese students.

The police called on the three men on Friday night as they made too much noise, and then the drunk suspects attacked the Chinese students as they believed it was their neighbors that had complained to the police about the noise.