Chinese community will shut down for a day

Belize City police say they have no leads into a hold up and robbery at the New World Store on Barrack Road. Authorities say three armed men entered the establishment and pulled the shutters. Once securely inside the building, authorities say the men tied up five of the store’s employees and stole an undisclosed amount of cash.

The incident took place on the eve of a planned action by the Belize Chinese Association to raise awareness of crime and express concern over the murder of Chinese businesswoman Lou Xiao Yue, better known as Susan. Susan was stabbed to death on Sunday afternoon after a man entered her store in Orange Walk and demanded money. According to B.C.A. Vice President, Lee Mark Chang, they are not calling Thursday’s action a protest; rather it’s a day of mourning.

Lee Mark Chang, V.P., Belize Chinese Association
?The Chinese businesses countrywide will be going on a one-day mourning to sympathize the death of the Chinese lady at Orange Walk.?

Jacqueline Woods
?How many stores will be closing??

Lee Mark Chang
?It is hard to say how much stores will be closing, but definitely it will be on a large scale.?

Jacqueline Woods
?What are you hoping to achieve from this closure??

Lee Mark Chang
?Well we hope to rally also with the Belizean community, because we are all a community.?

On Thursday, funeral services will take place for Lou Xiao Yue. But as the Chinese community gets ready say goodbye to one of their own, Orange Walk Police continue to look for her killer. Since the murder, police have detained a number of suspects but so far the killer has not been positively identified. In a correction to a story we reported yesterday, we are reliably informed that Susan was not pregnant at the time of her death.