Opinion | China clamps down on cross-border gambling

By Augustus K. Yeung

INTRODUCTION

Gambling has always been a social issue in traditional Chinese society. In terms of vices, gambling ranks second to "yellow" (sex-related crimes), followed by "gambling", with "drugs" bringing up the rear.

In another classification, "gambling" also ranks second to prostitution or "sex-related crimes", with "alcoholism" (a drinking problem), "loitering" (including skin-trade), and "smoking" or more precisely, opium addiction.

Why people turn to such social problems is beyond our scope of discussions?

Therefore, we will just focus on gambling.

Let us begin our discussion with a case in point: Pelham Chan (fictitious) loves to gamble; he has been gambling from La Vegas to Macau; he is a "high-roller", known to casinos in Vegas and Macau, where the managements would offer him complimentary first-class airline tickets and free hotel accommodations.

As a student in Hong Kong, he never gambled. Not even playing Mahjong, which he said was "noisy", and "a waste of time"; Pelham prefers womanizing, a vice to which he has pledged his allegiance all his life. Who doesn't in a permissive and promiscuous US society?

He loves blackjack, which beats womanizing in the heart of this former civil servant, who has now turned "university teacher" in Asia.

He consistently frequents casinos in Macau, which shares a border with Zhuhai, where he is working and womanizing.

Therefore, Pelham fits the notion of cross-border gambling, an issue discussed in the following text, although he prefers on-sight to online gambling as it allows him to gamble until late in the night, and "wear and tear the mattress", according to one graphic expression that describes bonafide gambling addicts.

Now let us see what Chinese police have to offer to enhance our general knowledge about gambling.

Chinese Police to Create a Healthy Social Atmosphere Against Gambling

Chinese police have solved more than 37,000 cases involving cross-border gambling this year, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement yesterday.

Since the beginning of this year, police operations nationwide busted over 2,600 online gambling platforms, more than 1,100 casinos, and 2,500 illegal payment platforms and underground banks.

Over 1,200 technical support teams and 1,600 platforms promoting gambling were shut down this year, the statement noted.

The ministry added that police managed to solve 19 major cases during the country's three-month crackdown targeting gambling.

Joint efforts from the ministry and other government departments will be intensified to create a healthy social atmosphere against gambling, according to the statement.

Earlier this year, the ministry said Beijing had investigated over 17, 000 instances of illegal cross-border gambling in 2021.

Last June, the country announced the government would intensify its targeted crackdown on cross-border online gambling activities. This involved coordinated efforts with various departments including the Ministry of Public Security to police online platforms, websites and mobile applications associated with gambling, with a focus on online livestreaming platforms, short videos, and online forums, etc.

The ministry reported arresting more than 80,000 suspects in 2021 under increased measures aimed at cracking down on criminal activity.

In August 2020, China established a blacklist system for cross-border gambling tourist destinations.

China reported that some overseas cities had attracted Chinese tourists for their gambling businesses, disrupting China's outbound travel market and endangering Chinese citizens' lives and property.

In establishing the black-list system, the ministry, and several relevant departments, will impose travel restrictions on Chinese citizens heading to overseas cities and scenic spots on the list.

Last year, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China announced China will add more overseas destinations to the blacklist. (Source: LV/XINHUA)

CONCLUSION

Why do the Chinese police bother to bust gambling when there are other more serious crimes such as gang violence, illustrated by the case of gangsters harassing and beating up a group of unwilling women against their unsolicited illegal sexual advances in the city of Tangshan?

According to a police statement, they have made gambling a priority of tough nuts to crack as the government's goal, which is "to create a healthy social atmosphere against gambling." Another reason is that online cross-border gambling has recently become a worldwide issue, targeting Hong Kong citizens which the central government has made a priority as the law and protector of Chinese much the same way as Beijing is good to and protective of Chinese citizens in Macau, much to the envy of mainlanders.

Apart from clamping down on cross-border gambling activities, the central government has also made it a national goal to introduce institutional sports as a way of life, which has become an established fact in the success of the Beijing Olympics 2008, which has brought pride to the nation.

Indeed, the government-initiated sports programs have socially conditioned and converted the younger generation to healthy sports games rather than gambling, the old fashion way of sports and recreation that harm the image of the nation.

That is why we do not characteristically see young people gambling in Macau casinos as they are preoccupied with normal and healthy activities such as studying and sporting, etc.

As the central government is bent on infrastructure buildings, like designing and erecting state-of-the-art bridges for high-speed trains, and crossing mountains and valleys, the people are visually attracted and psychologically satisfied; their minds have not been polluted.

They have become responsible members of society, shouldering their share of the social responsibilities of national rejuvenation.

As for poor Pelham who was lost in "the lonely crowd" as American sociologist David Riesman put it while in North America, his fall from grace is understandable – as Western societies do not make it their responsibility to provide youths with a healthy, sporty social environment, becoming patriots.

If Pelham's case is a tragedy, then the individual must gain insight into the nature of society which has gone liberal, narcissistic, corrupt, violent, etc.

John F. Kennedy's speech, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country," should be modified to "Ask what governments can do for you, young friends…"