A recent series of assaults on Koreans in Australia, which come on top of other attacks on Asian students and travelers earlier this year, have raised concerns about the possibility of racial hatred rising there.

It may be an overstatement to say that antagonism against ethnic minorities has permeated Australian society. The rise in crimes against Asian visitors and residents can be attributed at least partly to their increasing number.

But it should not be an excuse for what is seen as Canberra’s lukewarm response to the problem, which could do considerable damage to Australia’s national interests over the long term, if left unchecked.

In late October, Prime Minister Julia Gillard released a policy white paper entitled “Australia in the Asian Century,” in which she tied her nation’s future to Asia’s rise. The paper laid out an ambitious plan to ensure that Australia would emerge stronger over the decades ahead, by taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the Asian century. Few Australians would disagree with her view that the next wave for their country’s economy, which has ridden high on the back of the mining boom, will be pushed by the ever-growing Asian middle classes.

The string of white residents’ assaults on Asian visitors this year, many of which could be seen as racially motivated, simply contradicts the envisioned course for Australia’s future prosperity.

A Korean man was pounded in the head by two unidentified white youths who tried to steal his mobile phone in Brisbane on Saturday night. He was the third Korean staying in Australia who has been assaulted in the last three months. Less than a week before, a Korean company official was attacked in Sydney by several assailants wielding golf clubs. In Melbourne last September, a Korean student was beaten up by a group of local teenagers before having one of his fingers cut off.

In March, a Korean woman suffered serious burns in Sydney as an unidentified assailant set fire to a flammable liquid he threw against her. A female tourist from Japan was raped and two Chinese students were assailed by several local youngsters in the same city the following month.

These incidents can be considered severe enough to raise a question about the safety of Australia as a destination for Korean and other Asian travelers, students and emigrants. What is further worrisome is the reportedly lukewarm and racially biased response from some Australian police officers dealing with them.

The assault victim in Brisbane, a working-holiday visa holder, told a Korean news agency that the police officers in charge had handled his case with an insincere attitude and even made defamatory remarks that Asians are “stupid and silly.”

Letting such attacks go without being properly checked would further decelerate the inflow of Asian students and tourists into Australia, which rely on them for nearly a fifth of its gross domestic product. It might shed the light again on the “White Australia” policy of restricting non-white immigration as the root for the die-hard sentiment against Asians and other minorities, though it was officially terminated in 1973.

The number of foreign students in Australia, mostly from Asian countries including China, India and Korea, decreased from more than 630,000 in 2009 to about 500,000 this year, reducing its revenue from their stay by $4.1 billion to $14.6 billion over the cited period. In contrast to a steep decline in Chinese and Indian students, the number of Korean students showed a slight increase to around 30,000 during the three-year period. But it could take a downward turn anytime soon, with the rising anxiety over safety coupled with the increasing financial difficulties weighing on Korean households.

It is hoped that the Australian government, which has provided many Korean and other Asian youths with opportunities to travel and work in the country under its working-holiday visa program, will be successful in forestalling the spread of racial hatred to achieve its aspiration to become a winner in the Asian era. Such efforts should be made through strengthened law enforcement ― Canberra introduced provisions in 1995 to prohibit acts based on racial hatred ― and improved education.

Announcing the policy paper, Gillard said that children in kindergarten now would graduate from high school with a “sound working knowledge of Asia.” They should also be educated to develop a deep emotional bond with peoples across the continent, which would serve as a true basis for them to benefit from the Asian century.