It is alleged that Calum McHattie and Alan Clark, both of Aberdeen, shouted racial abuse at the three men as they were on their way to a casino in the early hours of Monday morning. They then attacked them and repeatedly punched, kicked and stamped Mr Ho, inflicting severe head injuries, police allege.

Mr Ho was transferred from Aberdeen Royal Infirmary's intensive care unit to its neurological ward on Friday night. He was reported to be in a critical but stable condition yesterday.

Members of his family arrived in Aberdeen on Friday morning, and were met by police officials at the airport.

Mr Ho's mother, Leung Yuk-ying, and 27-year-old younger brother, Ho Chun, were spending every possible minute at his bedside, said Desmond Chan, a manager of the Buffet King restaurant where Mr Fong and Mr Chan worked.

'He is still safe now as he is on a life-saving machine, but no one knows when he will wake up,' a distraught Ms Leung said.

The second badly injured man, Mr Fong, said the attack occurred after the three friends had been out drinking in the city centre.

After living in Aberdeen for 12 years, it was the first time he had encountered such a fierce attack and he still does not know what provoked it. 'I don't quite know what happened because I was drunk at that time,' Mr Fong said.

'I just saw that my two friends were in a fight with a Scottish person, while I was talking to another Scotsman. But suddenly, he started to attack me.'

Mr Fong was not as badly beaten as Mr Ho, and is recovering after having a facial operation. Mr Fong has been told that he can return to work in about two to three weeks.

While admitting her family was facing financial difficulties in paying for the expensive hospital fees, Mr Ho's mother vowed: 'No matter what, I've decided to stay in Aberdeen until he recovers.'

Peter Lee, chairman of the Aberdeen Chinese Community Association, said the Chinese consul-general in Scotland, Liu Jingxue, had held a meeting with police on Friday to ask for better protection for the Chinese community. 'This is the first time that this kind of attack has happened in this area. We're shocked,' Mr Lee said, adding he believed the attack was racially motivated.

A meeting to discuss the incident had also been held between the police, representatives of the 2,000-strong Chinese community and the region's Racial Equality Council.

Despite the ferocious attack, Mr Lee said the Chinese community remained calm as it believed it was a one-off incident.

Desmond Chan has visited Mr Ho every night since he was sent to hospital.

He said in addition to a great deal of internal bleeding, he had been told the bones in Mr Ho's inner ear had been shattered.

However, he believed that although Mr Ho remained unconscious, his condition had improved in recent days.