SYDNEY - Australian police arrested eight Tibetan separatists who stormed the Chinese consulate in Sydney on Wednesday, including one person who scaled a flagpole to pull down the Chinese flag.

The group of around 50 Tibetan students and former political prisoners were holding a scheduled peaceful protest outside the consulate's gates. When the gates opened to let a truck through, several of the protesters ran into the forecourt.

Eight of the protesters were charged with trespass, a spokeswoman for New South Wales state police said. One of those eight, a 38-year-old woman, was also charged with common assault after allegedly assaulting a consular official.