Protesters in Australia enter China consulate

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Protesters scaled a wall surrounding China's consulate in Sydney on Saturday, and removed the Chinese national flag and tried to replace it with a Tibetan flag, local television reported.

About a half dozen protesters scaled the 4-metre wall surrounding the consulate as 30 or more supporters cheered in support for an independent Tibet.

The Chinese national flag was lowered from its flagpole at the entrance to the consulate by a shirtless youth screaming "Human Rights in Tibet", SBS television footage showed. The flag was tossed out on to the street.

Another youth attempted to raise the Tibetan flag before fleeing, leaving the multicoloured flag at the base of the flagpole.

Four people were arrested when police used pepper spray to disperse the crowd after a plainclothes officer was attacked, a spokesman for the New South Wales state police said.

The protest came as China said 10 people were killed in riots in the Tibetan city of Lhasa on Friday. Beijing responded to the violence by declaring a crackdown on Saturday, and said rioters had until midnight on Monday to turn themselves in.