This winter the region around Yanji, on the Chinese border with North Korea, had a predictable ebb and flow: desperate North Korean refugees escaped into China; cash-flush Chinese crossed into North Korea to gamble. A regular was Cai Haowen, a Chinese official who lost $423,000 in embezzled state funds at the Hong Kong-run Emperor Casino. When his habit came to light, he became a fugitive, and by the time he was nabbed, Beijing had launched a full-blown crackdown. The Emperor is now shuttered, and the government has sworn to fire any official caught gambling.
Gambling has been illegal in China since communist rule started in 1949, but in recent decades authorities have looked the other way. That's changing. High-profile cases of officials' blowing state funds at the tables have stung the leadership in Beijing. In a recent dragnet, police identified more than 80,000 Chinese suspects (including scores of civil servants) in illegal casinos or betting online. In Burma, Vietnam, North Korea and Russia, at least 86 casinos that relied almost exclusively on Chinese visitors have closed. Chinese authorities have unplugged border ATMs and cut mainland water and electricity supplies to cross-border casinos. While prior anti-gambling drives were left to the police, this one is taking place under a central office uniting 17 government bodies.
Beijing will need all the manpower it can muster. Chinese are passionate gamblers: about 80 percent bet while on trips abroad, according to state estimates. Legend has it that when Emperor Chih-shih Huang Ti needed funds to build the Great Wall, he resorted to the lottery game now called keno.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
