Myanmar crisis now sounds death knell for garment industry, jobs and hope

This photo taken and received from an anonymous source via Facebook on April 11, 2021 shows protesters holding a candle-lit protest against the military coup in Mogok in Myanmar's Mandalay division. - AFP

YANGON April 8 (Reuters): Two years after opening his garment factory in Myanmar, Li Dongliang is on the verge of closing down and laying off his 800 remaining workers.

Business had been struggling because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but after a Feb. 1 coup that sparked mass protests and a deadly crackdown, during which his factory was set alight amid a surge of anti-Chinese sentiment, orders stopped.