A top official with Taiwan’s Transportation Ministry says a regulatory framework for casinos on the island of Matsu will be passed early this year and the first casino will open in about five years.
Lin Kuo Shian, director-general of the ministry, which is charged with regulating gambling on the island, acknowledged that his assessment is optimistic.
The possibility also exists of opening the capital of Taipei to gaming, which is not government policy currently and is looking to be increasingly remote, but it is contained in an alternative legalization bill proposed by lawmakers of the governing Kuomintang Party.
What this means for Matsu and other islands in the Taiwan Strait designated for resort casino development is not certain, but Transportation Minister Yeh Kuang Shih has suggested that casinos could be permitted as part of a special economic zone near Taoyuan Airport in the capital city. The proposal has arisen in the wake of recent statements out of China that mainland residents will not be permitted to visit any gambling venues slated for development in Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.
“Given this dynamic, any casino built in Taiwan would therefore largely be dependent on locals, which means that only a casino built near population centers, such as Taipei, would make sense—and only if locals are allowed to gamble,” investment brokerage Union Gaming Research Macau said in a recent report.
Terry Gou, head of Foxconn Technology Group and one of Taiwan’s wealthiest citizens, similarly has proposed development of a special casino enclave near the capital.
Premier Jian Yi Huah, however, has described such plans as “problematic,” and the Legislative Yuan, the national lawmaking body, appears divided on the issue.
The guiding legislation currently, the Offshore Islands Development Act, was passed in 2009 to allow residents of the Matsu, Kinmen and Penghu archipelagos to vote on casinos. In the summer of 2012, voters on Matsu, which is located just off the mainland province of Fujian, gave their assent. This initiated a process by which the Yuan was empowered to develop a framework for licensing and regulation, which has been drafted and introduced and is awaiting passage.
