Chinese students not targets: Vic police

Chinese students were not the targets of a crime spree of bag and phone snatches on a Melbourne university campus, police say.

A tertiary student looks at a laptop at the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Wednesday, May 8, 2012. (AAP Image/Julian Smith) NO ARCHIVING Source: AAP

Police have arrested 70 people over a spate of thefts from Melbourne uni students, but played down fears thieves were targeting Chinese students.

Victoria Police has been arresting and charging thieves since January, over the crime spree of bag and phone snatches around the University of Melbourne's Carlton campus that sparked fears Chinese students were targets.

"Only a third of those (victims) were Asian, of that only a small percentage of those were Chinese, it wasn't really targeting Chinese students," Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton told 3AW on Friday.