China praised the Philippines for its recent decision to stop accepting license applications for online gambling operations and encouraged the country to take it a step further and introduce an online gambling ban.
Following the recent announcement of the Philippine gambling regulator, PAGCOR, that it has stopped accepting new applications for licenses under the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) program, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang said in a Wednesday statement that they appreciated PAGCOR’s actions.
Mr. Geng went on to say that they “hope the Philippines will go further and ban all online gambling.”
PAGCOR Chairperson Andrea Domingo said earlier this week that the regulator had stopped accepting new POGO license applications three weeks ago. The agency has issued 58 licenses to operators since 2016 when rules and regulations covering the operations of POGOs were first issued.
Generally speaking, POGO refers to an operator that provides online gambling services to players located outside the Philippines. Filipino citizens, even when located overseas, are not allowed to gamble with POGO operators. PAGCOR’s chief said this week that aside from the existing 58 license holders, there are three pending licenses.
The regulator also pointed out this week that the agency would not accept any more applications until all concerns raised were “reviewed and comfortably addressed.”
China’s War on Gambling
Most of the POGO license holders are Chinese operations targeting Chinese gamblers and are mostly employing Chinese nationals. And many of their employees are reportedly working illegally on the territory of the Philippines without holding proper documents.
According to official data, the POGO sector currently employs more than 138,000 people, mostly Chinese nationals. To address the huge influx of Chinese migrants employed in the country’s online gambling industry, Philippine authorities recently approved a project proposed by local gambling company Oriental Group that involves the development of two POGO hubs.
The hubs, already under development, will be located in Cavite City, south of Manila, and Clark City, north of the capital, and will be able to accommodate more than 25,000 workers.
News about China urging the Philippines to crack down on its online gambling industry arrive amid warming relations between the two countries. China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said today that his country hopes it could work jointly with the Philippine government on tackling “criminal activities including online gambling and cyber fraud.”
Online gambling is illegal in China. However, Chinese gamblers are believed to be the biggest contributors to Asia’s thriving online gambling industry. As a result, multiple Chinese-run companies are setting up remote gambling operations in other countries in the region whether laws and regulations are less strict.
China issued its statement addressing the Philippines’ actions after Cambodia announced that it would ban online gambling as it poses threat to social order. Cambodia, similarly to the Philippines, has become a popular hub for Chinese-owned online casinos targeting customers from Mainland China. The two countries are close allies and China is among Cambodia’s biggest investors.
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