Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming MArch 2016 18 year, down from 10,000 yuan allowed per day with no annual limit. It made the restriction in response to the souring national economy causing capital flight, although in December China took another measure aimed specifically at Macau. This was to clampdown on the widespread use of UnionPay cards to make fake purchases at the city’s pawnshops in order to get around currency restrictions. Nearly all bankcards issued in China are UnionPay cards, making this an effective lever of control. And in addition to visa and currency controls, China can influence Macau’s gaming industry more directly through its say in government policy. China’s State Council appoints the Chief Executives of both Macau and Hong Kong Special Administrative Regions upon recommendation of a local Selection Committee. It also has the power to sack them, as was made plain by the removal of Hong Kong’s first Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hwa in 2005. Last December the structure of power over Macau’s Chief Executive, currently Fernando Chui, was on display when he delivered his annual report to President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Seated at the same table was the Director of the Central People’s Government Liaison Office of the Macao Special Administrative Region, Beijing’s point- man in the city Li Gang. The fourth man at the meeting was Wang Guangya, Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, which is charged with formulating policy on Macau. Inside Asian Gaming made a formal interview request to the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing, but they did not respond prior to us going to press. To what extent does Li, and above him Wang, call the shots in consultations with Chui? Chui’s predecessor Edmund Ho in 2008 famously said Beijing had instructed him to halt the construction of new casinos. “Macau is like a typical Chinese city. If there is a policy that Beijing says must be implemented, then the local government has to follow,” says Eilo Yu, Associate Professor at the University of Macau. The debate about China’s control of the Macau government seems to be more of an academic one, about terminology used to describe that control than whether or not the control is absolute. David Green, for example, prefers to say China exercises “moral suasion” instead of saying it “orders” or “commands.” But he adds, “I can’t recall an instance where Chui has said something contrary to the central government policy line. Under the One Country Two Systems policy it effectively controls what happens in Macau.” Feature In Focus Of course there is more to power in the Macau Special Administrative Region than the Chief Executive and the cabinet he appoints. The Hong Kong SAR shares Macau’s ruling structure. Anti-Beijing legislators and groups in society there often succeed in blocking the government’s agenda. In Macau, however, every political group – from legislators and local business elites to trade unions and charities – can be said to be pro-Beijing. The result is The Hong Kong SAR shares Macau’s ruling structure. Anti-Beijing legislators and groups in society there often succeed in blocking the government’s agenda. In Macau, however, every political group – from legislators and local business elites to trade unions and charities – can be said to be pro-Beijing. In addition to visa and currency controls, China can influence Macau’s gaming industry more directly through its say in government policy. China’s State Council appoints the Chief Executives of both Macau and Hong Kong Special Administrative Regions upon recommendation of a local Selection Committee.