By Paul Li 林保華
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Central Economic Work Conference in Beijing at the end of last year failed to find a solution for China’s economy. Although Chinese officials claimed that the foreign trade surplus hit a record high last month, China’s and Hong Kong’s stock markets have kept tumbling this year, with the latter’s Hang Seng Index dropping below 19,000 points on Monday.
While being stuck with the downturn, there is good news for Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), who visited Macau at the end of last year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of China‘s takeover of the territory in 1999. Surprisingly, Xi stayed there for three days.
Why is Xi fond of Macau? Because Macau is so obedient that it is considered a role model of Beijing’s “one country, two systems” policy. Macau has long been a “quasi-liberated zone” with a booming gambling industry.
The new chief executive, Sam Hou Fai (岑浩輝), was born in China’s Guangdong Province, educated in China, graduated from the Law School of prestigious Peking University, and emigrated to Macau in 1986. Sam is one of the elites with Chinese experience, also known as the “13 gangsters” (13太保), trained by Beijing to rule Macau. This is why Xi was so at ease during his stay in Macau.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic came to an end, Macau’s gambling and tourism industries have recovered much more quickly than Hong Kong’s.
In contrast to Hong Kong’s fiscal deficit, Macau with its strong treasury and budget surplus has been passing money to its people for 18 consecutive years. This year, each permanent resident would be given 10,000 Macau patacas (US$1,247), while each non-permanent resident would receive 6,000 patacas.
In Macau, the Chinese president repeatedly talked about economic development and put forward a number of specific expectations, including a call for “precise positioning, focusing on key points” — which referred to the gambling industry — and cultivation of new sectors with international competitiveness.
However, Tam Yiu-chung (譚耀宗), a former Hong Kong member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, said that it is not easy for Macau to promote economic diversity and shift away from the monopoly of its gambling industry.
Tam added that that he believed that Beijing would conduct studies on Macau’s situation, and then support Macau in implementing them.
What new industries exactly does Macau want to develop? According to the Hong Kong media’s latest report on Jan. 13, Macau’s six largest gambling enterprises are opening overseas offices one after another in a bid to attract international customers.
A week earlier, Melco Resorts & Entertainment (新濠博亞娛樂) announced that it has opened an office in Bangkok, Thailand, to keep an eye out for new opportunities and possible cooperation. It seems that the gambling industry is still the best way to go.
In terms of Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems,” the only remnant today is late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s (鄧小平) nine-word motto: “Horses would still run, stocks would still sizzle, and dancing would still continue” (馬照跑，股照炒，舞照跳), and the first two are related to gambling too.
As the CCP attempts to impose “one country, two systems” in Taiwan, does it want to try out the gambling industry in Taiwan’s outlying island Kinmen first?
Paul Lin is a political commentator.
Translated bv Eddy Chang