Get your small groceries and items from that Chinese store on the corner tonight, because tomorrow all Chinese businesses across Belize will be shut down. We were unable to get comment from the community's spokesperson, but our sources say it's an act of protest against the violence that has been visited on the Chinese business community. The trend was tragically underscored when 14 year old Helen Yu was killed in Belize City last week Thursday. Three gunmen stormed into her family store on Iguana Street and shot her in the chest, killing the second former immediately. Her father was shot but he survived.
The ruthless killing has outraged the Chinese business community which continues to be targeted for violent crime. So, tomorrow's shutdown is both protest and mourning and is being staged to bring attention to the community's plight.
So how is the city's population going to manage it? I mean, imagine a day without your corner store, Li Chee Chicken or Simon Quan in the back to school rush!? This evening Monica Bodden hit the streets to get a reaction to the bad news and we'll have that for you in our last segment.
According to our archives the last national shutdown by the Chinese business community was staged in April of 2005 when coincidentally another Yue, Susan Yue was killed in Orange Walk Town.
According to the information we've collected, the shutdown is all inclusive and covers all Chinese businesses from long established enterprises like Simon Quan to restaurants and fried chicken joints to your neighborhood corner store. We'll see how it plays out tomorrow.
