Thousands question level of security in wake of cult murder in Shandong
Nearly 2,000 Chinese customers have sent a letter to US fast food company McDonald's, requiring it to disclose information about security measures in its chain restaurants and urging it to take responsibility for a brutal murder in a branch in Shandong province.
The letter, which has collected 1,843 signatures from customers nationwide, was sent to the company's headquarters in China and the US on Wednesday. The letter questioned whether the company has enough security measures in place to ensure customer safety.
It also questioned whether McDonald's employees have been trained to handle emergencies. The customers urged the company to state that it should take responsibility for any murder occurring in its restaurants.
A 37-year-old woman, surnamed Wu, was beaten to death by members of the Church of Almighty God, a banned heretic religious sect, in a McDonald's outlet in Zhaoyuan, Shandong Province on May 28. Five suspects have been arrested.
Apart from anger and shock, the public should also be aware that McDonald's is also responsible for protecting customer safety, said Zheng Churan, a Guangzhou-based feminist and one of the people who drafted the letter.
Zheng added that the company should also make safety assessments of its outlets in China.
As of press time, McDonald's China headquarters and headquarters in the US were not available for comments on the letter or whether they have beefed up security in local outlets.
Several McDonald's staff reached by the Global Times in Beijing said that they have not received training on such incidents and they have yet to notice that any restaurants have tightened security.
"We have one security guard and most of our employees are young women. I think it's unfair to require us to protect customers in such circumstances. All we can do is to report it to the police," a female worker in a Beijing McDonald's restaurant, surnamed Xie, told the Global Times.
McDonald's has 2,000 restaurants in 26 provincial regions across China, according to the company website.
McDonald's China said on Saturday and Sunday on its Sina Weibo account that they show great sympathy to the victim as well as to its staff who tried to stop the violence.
Business operators of restaurants, hotels and shops have the responsibility to ensure customer safety by taking enough security measures, such as hiring security guards, according to China's customer rights protection law.
"It is still too early to judge whether the restaurant should be blamed in this case," said Qiu Baochang, president of the legal panel of China Consumers' Association.
Qiu said that the judgment should be made based on the measures they took after the violence broke out, such as reporting the incident to the police or attempting to stop the attack.
