French interior minister condemns attack on Chinese students

PARIS - French Interior Minister Manuel Valls on Saturday condemned the attack on six Chinese students in France's western Gironde province, describing the incident 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 six Chinese oenology students on Friday evening at the students' home in Hostens, located in the 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.

Officials from the Chinese embassy in France told Xinhua on Saturday that the embassy has taken active actions to help these attacked students.

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 their neighbors had complained to the police about the noise.