Protesters have been arrested and charged after they stormed the Chinese consulate in Sydney, with one scaling a pole to pull down the Chinese flag.

A group of Tibetan students and former political prisoners planned a peaceful protest against the death in prison of a prominent Tibetan monk Tenzin Delek.

But the group said emotions spilled over and about 50 demonstrators stormed the consulate and removed the Chinese flag.

When the gates of the consulate opened to let a truck through, they ran into the forecourt.

Eight protesters were charged with a range of offences, including trespass.

Protester and former political prisoner Lobsang Choezin said China had made it difficult to get sensitive information out of Tibet.

"They don't know exactly what's going on in Tibet because China's cut everything, every information," Ms Choezin said.

"They keep [secrets] and I know how [bad the] Chinese government are."

Tenzin Datsatsang, a demonstrator from the Sydney Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, said the protesters felt grief and frustration.

"Which is why when they went into the consulate they just wanted to express their emotion and show the Chinese government, especially the Chinese consulate, that what they are doing is wrong," she said.

She said Tenzin Delek was serving a life sentence for terrorism charges and inciting separatism.

"He was just a simple Buddhist monk, who worked tirelessly to preserve the Tibetan culture [and] identity," Ms Datsatsang said.