On Tibet: If you're Chinese-Australian, Should You Protest?

On my tram ride home today, I noticed a few dozen young Chinese protesting. They were holding long banners that read "Tibet was, is, and always will be part of China." There were at least 3 such banners held up by aournd 8 people so everyone could read it several times on the their way up Swanston Street.

My first question is: what exactly were the people protesting? Were they taking issue with some of the comments by Kevin Rudd the other day? If so, I believe his statements were more about human rights than geopolitics; I don't think he was disputing the borders of China.

Perhaps these people were simply showing solidarity with the Chinese government. On first thought, this seems fairly innocuous. Certainly I believe that these people have the right, in Australia, to speak out in favour of any policy they want, whether of the Australian government, or of some foreign regime. 

Here's where the contradiction arises. You see, the Chinese government doesn't believe that foreigners should interfere with what is essentially (according the banner of the protesters, to be sure) an internal matter for China. How then does it make any sense for those on Australian soil to essentially intefere with an internal matter, even by showing their solidarity? It seems the Chinese goverment would be prefer -- whether you're for or against their behaviour -- to keep your mouth shut. These protesters are trying to have it both ways, but make sense in neither realm.