Australian Prime Minister John Howard Monday condemned racist attacks on the three Chinese restaurants in Perth, the capital of Western Australia.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard condemned racist attacks on the three Chinese restaurants in Perh as disgraceful. [Reuters/file]

The restaurants were torched on Sunday morning in the city's southern suburbs of Yangebup, Willetton and Spearwood in related attacks.

Fortunately no one was hurt in the incidents, although the owners of the restaurants and their families were left terrified.

Howard, who arrived in Perth last night, blasted the attacks as disgraceful, adding that he would seek a briefing from law enforcement and security agencies.

Zhong Ziqi, the Chinese consul-general in Perth, told China Daily that officials were continuing to pay close attention to the situation.

He added he was confident that the local police will deal with the incident properly.

"The attacks were clearly racial motivated, and were conducted by the same offender," Zhong said."The cause was still under investigation."

"The Australian Chinese owners of these three Chinese restaurants, who have lived in Perth for more than 20 years, were terrified by the racist attacks," Zhong said.

Mrs Luong, who has run the Lakelands Chinese Restaurant there for about nine years with her husband and family, said they had never before been the victim of racist attacks.

This incident could be enough to drive them out of business, she said.

"It is very scary. We are in business to try to make a living, that's all we are trying to do", Mrs Luong was quoted as saying by the local newspaper.

"The attack caused great damage, especially to the Lakelands Chinese Restaurant in Yangebup. It will take weeks to clear up. However, the other two restaurants already resumed their business yesterday," Zhong said.

"China makes constant efforts to fight against racist violence," Zhong told China Daily. "These attacks undermined racial harmony in Western Australia", he said.

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