26 Jan 2010

Shootings of Asian businessmen in PNG linked to organised crime

9:13 pm on 26 January 2010

A non-government organisation in Papua New Guinea says the shootings of Asian businessmen this month are a reflection of organised crime within the Asian community, and not of anti-Asian feeling.

Chinese shop owner Liu Zhang Chun was shot dead after driving home from his Port Moresby store on Sunday.

His murder comes after two men, reported to be Triad assasins, were charged with the shooting of Malaysian-born businessman Jason Tan earlier this month.

Noel Anjo is the president of NGOs and Civil Society Coalition Partners which last year petitioned the government to remove undesirable Asian immigrants.

He says local Papua New Guineans are not responsible for the shootings.

"Inviting someone to go and murder someone, to shoot someone or to kidnap someone is not part of our culture. This is a new crime that is bought into the country by Asians. The government must do something to get rid of this thing here."

Noel Anjo from PNG's NGOs and Civil Society Coalition Partners