No, not impossible,Sam. From the accounts of Australians & Tibetans who were there, they were subject to a lot of harassment from the Chinese supporters.They also said the Australian police were excellent but acting to firm protocol. Much of the violence occurred out of range of the police & media.

Isabella, Melbourne, Australia

I was there also, it was full-on. Chinese students en-masse surrounding and abusing smaller groups of pro-Tibetan demonstrators. My wife and i were mobbed, shouted at and had to leave for our own safety just prior to our banner being pulled down. Scarily effective mass indoctrination by the CCP,...

Scott, Byron Bay, Australia

I was there. It was exactly like that. I was harrassed, sworn at, given the finger, pelted with stones, abused and jostled. All for exercising my democratic right to protest peacefully in my own country. The aggressive mobs of Chinese puppets of the Communist regime were vile.

Katrina Moxey, Brighton, Australia

The Times account, to me who watched the Oz TV of the total event, is just pure Sour Grapes. The Australian police organised a relay that was just so different to the London shambles/chaos, a balance report would be unthinkable. No, impossible!

Samuel Terry, Darwin, Australia

It looked to me like a serious breach of Australian National Sovereignty that the Chinese Government had the arrogance and temerity to bus in and organise such an overwhelming number of pro-Beijing supporters. Judging the situation from here it had the appearance of an aggresive invasion.

Colin, Carmarthen, UK

Celeste of Ottawa, Rob Alcock said it very well. By "we", are you referring to all Tibetan protesters? I assume not, because there've been plenty of reports from even western media sources that detail the funding and organizational support (much fromo the west) behind many pro-Tibetan protests.

Jay, Toronto,

There are quite a few thousand chinese who are asking where they can get this $100-$300 fee for protesting? Please post the details so they can claim! Otherwise - stop posting such nonsense.

Rob Alcock, Swansea, UK

Some have taken Dave Kennett from Paris/Sheffield to task over his "President Rudd" comment.
Methinks Dave is being cheeky. Yes we all know KRudd is a republican, but long may he be frustrated in his dream, for Australia's sake. GSTQ !

John B, Melbourne, Australia

Jay of Toronto: as a Canadian who has participated in several pro-Tibet rallies I can assure you that none of us is paid or compensated, and we're doing it on our own time, because we care.

Celeste, Ottawa, Canada

My Australian friend was angrily abused by some Chinese students, spat on, ridiculed, hit & prodded by their flag-poles & surrounded by a gang of about 25 young Chinese males who intimidated her with taunts and gestures. She neither incited nor responded, finally managing to get away.

isabella, Melbourne, Australia

@ ijkwin, local news reported flag burning on both sides, also Chinese burning Tibet flag.

Alone in the middle of Chinese supporters (students), I felt safe, but...many bullied quite systematically any isolated people carrying about anything related to Tibet and, to a lesser extent, to human right.

pierre pouliquin, Canberra, Australia

Australians & Tibetans were informed that the chinese crowd were overseas students ordered & paid ($100-300) to be there & were perceived, in a sense, as victims themselves of propaganda. Some chinese students were shocked to learn of to the tibetan situation & were sympathetic.

isabella, Melbourne, Australia

An Australian friend there to give support to the Tibetan human rights cause became a target of abuse from some of the Chinese supporters after she became lost in the crowd for a duration. She estimated the arrests of Chinese supporters at around 28-30 & considers these were mostly for assault.

isabella, Melbourne, Australia

Mob mentality could manifest itself in every group, remember the Cronulla riots?The members of the bigger group will naturally feel safe and anonymous, and are therefore more prone to making trouble. And please, people, don't degrade your comments by giving out conspiracy theories.

john, Doncaster, Australia

Actually, Jay of Toronto, many pro-Tibetans were ordinary Aussies not even of Tibetan descent, who were not funded or organised, just determined to protest an injustice. The behaviour of the Chinese supporters was aggressive and arrogant - they represented their government perfectly.

Angela, Epping, Australia

Compared with the protests in WTO conference in some cities of the world, Chinese supporters are relatively peaceful and violence is minor. Tibert supporters even burned China's flags. So please don't criticize Chinese supporters any more!

ijkwin, China, China

Dir sir,
How can you say mobs of Chinese? what's the difference between you an MR.Caffery/CNN? Please do not like CNN.
Be professioanl! Do not so rude to the people in other county.
Aren't you angry if other country want to seperate British? You have hurt Chinese people's heart !!

Zhang ruizhen, Shantou City, China

Buses WERE organised and paid for by the Chinese government. The violent faces of many Chinese and their mob behavior and violence to keep Tibetan protestors out of view is also clearly evident and well documented. To those Chinese that suggest otherwise in the name of nationalism - OPEN YOUR EYES!

Paul, Sydney, Australia

Yoni, just be patient. Tibet is not safe right now so the closure is understandable. But it won't last long.

James, Morgantown, USA

To all Chinese who say, "You have not been to Tibet so you can't talk about it; go to Tibet."

I was scheduled to go to Tibet on a tourist trip at the end of March, but the country was closed to foreigners, and remains closed. So how am I supposed to do that?

Yoni, New York, USA

All those suggesting that the 10,000 + Chinese supporters are just lying to themselves, does it make you feel better to believe that the CCP is behind everything? Does that also explain the protests in the Manchester and London? It's time to face up to the facts people.

Wesley, Cambridge, UK

I was there!! From what I saw some of the Chinese groups were rude, shoved and yelled abuse at anyone that was pro-Tibet. I witnessed them hit and yell abuse at a man for carrying a Free Tibet Balloon!! In the end I had to call the police over because they would not stop hassling this guy.

Cathy, Canberra, Australia

The difference between the two sets of protesters is that, unlike the pro-Tibetans who were self-organised, the pro-Chinese were bussed in en masse by the Chinese government. These protesters are students and therefore the pampered children of communist party elites who can afford overseas tuition.

Angela, Epping, Australia

I was at the torch relay and the behaviour of the Chinese students was vile. They can only be described as thugs and bullies. I was pushed, jostled, sworn at, given the finger and told to mind my own business. All this is my own democratic country by those who are guests on student visas!

Katrina Moxey, Brighton, Australia

There is no evidence that Jin Jing was attacked by a Tibetan. A Chinese blog is questioning whether her attack was real or staged & whether her "attacker" was actually Tibetan or employed by the Chinese Embassy.

Wangchuk, New York, USA

The Chinese were actually behaving better than the pro-Tibet thugs in the Paris torch relay. Those Tibetan thugs even attacked a disabled torch bearer Jin Jing in Paris. Of course one would read that in news since our media is "unbiased"

David , San Jose, CA, USA

I was at the torch relay as a sightseer and the behaviour of the Chinese groups was a disgrace. They were aggressive and intimidatory. I was jostled and shouted at by Chinese men and women who automatically assumed that because I was Australian I must be an anti-Chinese protestor.

John Bourke, Queanbeyan, Australia

I guess hitting people with sticks and bussing in the rent a crowd is all the Chinese Communist Party has left. They have certainly lost the moral and ethical argument completely. Money, threats and shouting in your face are what it is all about now. Crude rough stuff and there is more to come.

Colin, Carmarthen, UK

I was appalled by the 10,000-strong rent-a-crowd the Chinese embassy bussed in - they were generally hostile towards the pro-Tibet contingent, who were restrained and peaceful (from what I saw). Congrats to the police, who treated the tracksuited Chinese goon squad with the contempt they deserved.

Lejuan, Canberra, Australia

Why is it former marathon runner Robert de Castella? Aren't all runners former runners unless you get them exactly in the middle of their 2 hour and 40 minute moment of glory?

john robert gross, Sydney, Australia

Great job Times. Let's not ever question where the Tibetan protesters following the torch get their funding and organizational directions from, but we must only write about the Chinese hooliganism and hint at their support by the Chinese government. The people want to know both sides of the story

Jay, Toronto,

If you've ever been to Tibet (I have) you will know that the Tibetans are terrified of the Han Chinese who have invaded their territory - and rightly so. The Han Chinese, understandably, see things quite differently. How to get a dialogue going? And how to get the Han Chinese out of Tibet?

JudyS, Adelaide,

Chinese supporters hitting Australians with sticks!! Nothing like that happened in London thank goodness. There were one or two compromising situations close to Tower Bridge. The mother and children intimidated by Chinese students was one example. Fortunately there were British police nearby.

Colin, Carmarthen, UK

there were two flame attendants and their role was to relight the flame if it became extinguished. the australian police provided all of the security. btw, he's prime minister rudd - australia is not a republic yet.

Ed, Canberra, Australia

The passage of this Olympic torch has been a complete farce and a total waste of money.

Just what has been the point apart from to confirm to the Chinese government how low their reputation is throughout the world. It seems the only people cheering the rally have been the Chinese themselves. Their strong nationalism is understandable in the circumstances but rather predictable and depressing all the same.

If they did ‘attack’ protesters at the Canberra rally it’s no great surprise, I’m sure their govement would be proud.

Mike, Nottingham, UK

Hi Dave Kennett, Our Ozzie Head of State is - sadly - QE2, Monarch of Great Britain!!

Kevin RUDD is PM (not President) of Australia. The Governor General (representative of QE2) is a Maj Gen JEFFREYS.

KR said the blue trackie guys wouldn't play a part in torch SECURITY - and they didn't!

JudyS, Australia,

i thought President Kevin Rudd said that security would be provided uniquely by the Australians and that the chinese security would not play a part in the relay? or did he climbdown from that position?

Dave Kennett, Paris/Sheffield, France/UK

I was there too. All I can say is that Australia is the first country that successfully run the torch relay! Proud of Australian!

EJ, Sydney, Australia

I was there today and there was passionate support for the olympic torch. pro-olympic, pro-china and pro-tibet supported their cause with passion. Anyone expecting some sort of major drama will be disappointed. Australia is the first country to successfully stage the olympic torch peacefully!

Ed, Canberra, Australia

During the relay itself, pushing and shoving broke out between police and two Chinese attendants accompanying the torch.

So why were these attandants not arrested?

Chris, Ashford, Middx, UK