Beijing won’t let mainlanders gamble in Taiwan

Beijing has reiterated its warning that it won’t let its citizens gamble in Taiwan if the island passes a bill to open up casinos, news agency Xinhua reported, citing Fan Liqing, a spokesperson with the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office.

Fan said Tuesday that mainland regulations and cross-Strait agreements between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan are consistent in that they prohibit mainland tourists from engaging in gambling activities on the island.

Fan said the Chinese mainland hoped to further push forward cross-Strait tourism cooperation and exchanges in Kinmen, which is just two kilometers from the coastal mainland city of Xiamen.

"We would rather not see Kinmen tourism, which has tremendous potential, impacted by the gambling industry," Xinhua cited Fan as saying.

Fan’s comments follow a weekend visit to Kinmen by Zhang Zhijun of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, who called on Taiwan not to allow casinos on the islands.

Zhang said China will cut-off direct transit, shipping and trade links between the Mainland and Kinmen if Taiwan goes ahead with legalizing gambling in the islands.

His comments triggered a response from Legislature President Wang Jin-pyng who promised that Taiwan will go ahead with plans to allow casinos to open.

Taiwan’s draft act to legalize casino gambling on outlying islands was submitted by the Executive Yuan (EY) of the country’s government to the Legislative Yuan (LY) two years ago, and stands a good chance of being passed in this legislative session or the next.

Under the bill the casinos would be restricted to three outlying islands, which include Kinmen. The islands must hold a referendum once the legislation is passed if they wish to develop casino-style resorts.