Inside Asian Gaming

IAG OCT 2019年10月 亞博匯 14 亞博匯早報 BREAKFAST BRIEFS PHILIPPINES REJECTS CHINA’S CALL TO BAN ONLINE GAMBLING 菲律賓拒絕響應中方禁止網絡博彩的呼籲 PHILIPPINES President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected China’s calls to ban online gambling operations. Addressing the Philippines in a televised press conference, Duterte revealed that he had opted not to vow to pressure from Beijing following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in early September, stating the financial impact on the nation would be too great. “We decide to benefit the interest of my country. I decide that we need it,” Duterte said, adding that banning the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) scheme would cost too many jobs. China’s issue with the POGO industry emerged in early August when the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines released a statement expressing its concerns over the proposed transfer of Chinese workers employed by POGOs to self-contained hubs and warning against the illegal inducement of Chinese citizens to gamble either online or in Philippines land-based casinos. Gaming regulator PAGCOR responded by placing a moratorium on the issuance of new gaming licenses while it addressed such concerns, however Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang then upped the ante, stating, “We hope the Philippines will go further and ban all online gambling” and describing online gambling as “the most dangerous tumor in modern society detested by people all across the world.” 菲律賓 總統杜特爾特在電視新聞發佈會 上表示，在於上週五與中國國家主席習 近平會晤之後，他選擇不向北京方面壓 力妥協，稱此舉將對國家財政產生重大 影響。 「我們決定優先考慮本國的利益。 我已決定我們需要它。」杜特爾特表示， 並同時表明如若禁止菲律賓離岸博彩營 運商（POGO）將令大批人失業。 中方在八月時開始對POGO提出意 見，當時中國駐菲律賓大使館發表聲明， 表達了對POGO公司將其中國員工轉至 隔離的自給自足式中心的憂慮，同時亦 對非法引誘中國公民於網上或菲律賓內 的陸上賭場進行博彩活動作出警告。 博彩監管機構PAGCOR隨即決定暫 停發放新的PAGO牌照，但之後中國外 交部發言人耿爽表示，「希望菲方可以進 一步全面取締網絡博彩。」，並形容網絡 博彩為「當今社會的一大毒瘤，世界各國 的民眾對此深惡痛絕。」