今天报道,LAS VEGAS 50%的豪赌(至少US$10000/BET)的游客来之中国. 这是说明中国人民生活水平大大提高了呢,还是说明了什么?
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050215.wchina15/BNStory/Front
China wages losing war against gambling
By GEOFFREY YORK
Tuesday, February 15, 2005 Updated at 12:31 AM EST
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Beijing ― The fabled "whales" of Las Vegas are a rare species. Only an estimated 50 to 250 exist in the entire world.
The whales are the high-rolling gamblers who bet the maximum $150,000 (U.S.) a hand. They win or lose a small fortune in less than 60 seconds of play.
In the 1980s and 1990s, many of the whales were Japanese businessmen. But today, according to Las Vegas moguls, more than 50 per cent are Chinese. And more than half of those who bet $10,000 to $50,000 a hand are also Chinese.
Beijing's Communist rulers have been waging a futile struggle against gambling for more than half a century. Gambling remains illegal in China, but it is the Communists themselves ― the mid-ranking officials and cadres ― who have emerged as some of the biggest gamblers in Las Vegas and Macau, and in the 200 new casinos that have sprung up just outside China's borders in recent years.
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Take the case of Cai Haowen. He was the 41-year-old director of a government transport office in northeastern China who had a secret gambling habit. Last year, according to a government investigation, he embezzled more than $300,000 in public funds and made 27 trips to a casino in North Korea. He escaped police and is now a fugitive.
Of the 50,000 Chinese citizens who visited that same casino in North Korea last year, about 30 per cent were government officials, according to a Beijing newspaper. Many of them "borrow" government money to invest at the betting tables, hoping to repay the money if they strike it rich, but often fleeing when they lose. Two Chinese officials were prosecuted last year for stealing almost $40-million in public funds to feed their habits.
Last month, Beijing launched a highly publicized crackdown on gambling. It set up a telephone hot line and website to encourage Chinese tipsters to snitch on government employees who waste public funds on gambling. It tightened China's borders with Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos to restrict the cross-border movements of casino staff and customers. And it ordered more police raids on underground casinos and illegal gambling rings in China, which reap an estimated $50-billion in annual revenue.
Experts are skeptical of the effectiveness of China's regular campaigns against gambling.
"It means long hours for the police, and it cannot be sustained," said Shen Mingming, director of the institute of Lottery Studies at Beijing University. "When the campaign is over, these organizations just quietly come back to life. Can you keep doing these campaigns every few months?"
Since 1987, China has allowed some lotteries to exist. More recently, it has allowed "sports lotteries," which are based on the results of soccer matches. These lotteries produced almost $5-billion in official revenue last year.
But this is peanuts compared with the staggering $70-billion that is reportedly spent by Chinese gamblers at casinos and horse races outside China every year. Illegal wagering has become so widespread that many Chinese gamblers even placed bets on the outcome of Taiwan's presidential election last year. During the 2002 World Cup, banks in one Chinese province found $100-million in unusual cash flows that were believed to be linked to soccer gambling.
"Underground gambling has become a very serious problem in China," Mr. Shen said. "It has increased a lot. For the policy makers, this is a very delicate issue. The government wants a morally upright image. If it cannot control gambling, it loses credibility. This would definitely affect the legitimacy of the regime. But the government also recognizes that gambling is a very popular activity in the daily lives of people."
Some analysts predict that China will eventually be obliged to legalize gambling, if only to stem the massive outflow of cash to foreign casinos. Beijing is believed to be studying its options for liberalizing the gambling sector so that some of the revenues can be kept in China.
Tellingly, the government has pledged that it will not crack down on mahjong or other small-scale forms of social gambling.
"It recognizes that it cannot prevent people from gambling at home," Mr. Shen said. "It would be like the prohibition of alcohol in the U.S. in the 1930s."
But as Beijing watches the skyrocketing growth of Chinese gambling in Macau, Las Vegas and other casino centres, it must grapple with the consequences, he warned.
"Gambling money can be used for money-laundering schemes and cross-border crimes. Gambling addictions have become a mental-health problem. Gamblers are facing problems with their families and their banks. And all of these social costs are occurring at home, here in mainland China ― not in Macau or Las Vegas."
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050215.wchina15/BNStory/Front
China wages losing war against gambling
By GEOFFREY YORK
Tuesday, February 15, 2005 Updated at 12:31 AM EST
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Beijing ― The fabled "whales" of Las Vegas are a rare species. Only an estimated 50 to 250 exist in the entire world.
The whales are the high-rolling gamblers who bet the maximum $150,000 (U.S.) a hand. They win or lose a small fortune in less than 60 seconds of play.
In the 1980s and 1990s, many of the whales were Japanese businessmen. But today, according to Las Vegas moguls, more than 50 per cent are Chinese. And more than half of those who bet $10,000 to $50,000 a hand are also Chinese.
Beijing's Communist rulers have been waging a futile struggle against gambling for more than half a century. Gambling remains illegal in China, but it is the Communists themselves ― the mid-ranking officials and cadres ― who have emerged as some of the biggest gamblers in Las Vegas and Macau, and in the 200 new casinos that have sprung up just outside China's borders in recent years.
Advertisements
Take the case of Cai Haowen. He was the 41-year-old director of a government transport office in northeastern China who had a secret gambling habit. Last year, according to a government investigation, he embezzled more than $300,000 in public funds and made 27 trips to a casino in North Korea. He escaped police and is now a fugitive.
Of the 50,000 Chinese citizens who visited that same casino in North Korea last year, about 30 per cent were government officials, according to a Beijing newspaper. Many of them "borrow" government money to invest at the betting tables, hoping to repay the money if they strike it rich, but often fleeing when they lose. Two Chinese officials were prosecuted last year for stealing almost $40-million in public funds to feed their habits.
Last month, Beijing launched a highly publicized crackdown on gambling. It set up a telephone hot line and website to encourage Chinese tipsters to snitch on government employees who waste public funds on gambling. It tightened China's borders with Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos to restrict the cross-border movements of casino staff and customers. And it ordered more police raids on underground casinos and illegal gambling rings in China, which reap an estimated $50-billion in annual revenue.
Experts are skeptical of the effectiveness of China's regular campaigns against gambling.
"It means long hours for the police, and it cannot be sustained," said Shen Mingming, director of the institute of Lottery Studies at Beijing University. "When the campaign is over, these organizations just quietly come back to life. Can you keep doing these campaigns every few months?"
Since 1987, China has allowed some lotteries to exist. More recently, it has allowed "sports lotteries," which are based on the results of soccer matches. These lotteries produced almost $5-billion in official revenue last year.
But this is peanuts compared with the staggering $70-billion that is reportedly spent by Chinese gamblers at casinos and horse races outside China every year. Illegal wagering has become so widespread that many Chinese gamblers even placed bets on the outcome of Taiwan's presidential election last year. During the 2002 World Cup, banks in one Chinese province found $100-million in unusual cash flows that were believed to be linked to soccer gambling.
"Underground gambling has become a very serious problem in China," Mr. Shen said. "It has increased a lot. For the policy makers, this is a very delicate issue. The government wants a morally upright image. If it cannot control gambling, it loses credibility. This would definitely affect the legitimacy of the regime. But the government also recognizes that gambling is a very popular activity in the daily lives of people."
Some analysts predict that China will eventually be obliged to legalize gambling, if only to stem the massive outflow of cash to foreign casinos. Beijing is believed to be studying its options for liberalizing the gambling sector so that some of the revenues can be kept in China.
Tellingly, the government has pledged that it will not crack down on mahjong or other small-scale forms of social gambling.
"It recognizes that it cannot prevent people from gambling at home," Mr. Shen said. "It would be like the prohibition of alcohol in the U.S. in the 1930s."
But as Beijing watches the skyrocketing growth of Chinese gambling in Macau, Las Vegas and other casino centres, it must grapple with the consequences, he warned.
"Gambling money can be used for money-laundering schemes and cross-border crimes. Gambling addictions have become a mental-health problem. Gamblers are facing problems with their families and their banks. And all of these social costs are occurring at home, here in mainland China ― not in Macau or Las Vegas."
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