Beijing Wants Macau Turned into IT Hub

Can Macau transform from gambling hub to one of innovation?

Before the coronavirus pandemic, Macau was the world's power horse when it came to generating billions of dollars in profits from gambling -- for years the former Portuguese colony's casino revenues were greater than all of those in Las Vegas combined. It generated over 80 percent of the Macau's tax income.

China had wanted Macau to diversify its income sources for years, and the gaming resorts tried to create entertainment, fine dining restaurants and shopping, but these initiatives were completely overshadowed by casinos. 

Macau depends heavily on casinos for its tax base

Mainland gamblers didn't care for shows that tried to be like those in Vegas, or Michelin-starred restaurants, and the shopping -- they just wanted to eat bowls of noodles so they could play at the VIP tables, dropping thousands of dollars per round.

However now with Covid-19 pandemic approaching its second year, it has laid bare how vulnerable Macau is to depending on gaming, and in the past week there was sensational news of Macau police arresting Alvin Chau Cheok-wa, who allegedly ran illegal cross border gambling activities. 

The free-wheeling days of fast money, VIP rooms, and escorts are over.

Instead Beijing wants to take the opportunity to turn the gambling capital into an IT hub.

The place will be Hengqin, a small island in between Macau and Zhuhai that will jointly be governed by both the Macau and Guangdong authorities. 

Hengqin is an island near Macau and Zhuhai

It will be one step forward in rebranding Macau as "the new centre of international technologies" to connect the Asia Pacific tech ecosystems with the rest of the world.

Huh?

What tech ecosystems? And wasn't Hong Kong supposed to be an IT hub too?

In Beijing's plan, Macau is being encouraged to develop integrated circuits, new energy projects and artificial intelligence, among other tech sectors, and to establish a supply chain for chips, from design to testing.

That will also include enhancing the research abilities of Macau universities to drive innovation and technology. There are other industries Beijing wants to develop too, like Chinese medicine, gems, tourism and financial services. 

Meanwhile tech firms like Tencent as helping the Macau Water Supply Company digitise its operations to offer smoother and faster services, and install meters to detect unusual water consumption. 

Huawei is also working with Macau's telecoms operator CTM on Macau's smart city initiative, using big data technology.

Are Macau's sleepy streets ready for change?

While this all sounds great, the reality is that Macau's population is just under 650,000, the city is small, rundown and not very efficient to get around.

Young people are either in the gaming or hospitality industries, or they have left Macau to develop their careers elsewhere, like Hong Kong. Students don't go to Macau universities to study high tech and innovation, and trying to change that perception will be a hard sell.

The Macanese don't have the aggressive go-getter mentality to work hard -- they are so used to getting free money from the government and having their pay from casinos artificially high that it will be hard to wean them off the gaming industry.

In addition, Macau doesn't have the man power or the education level to set up a supply chain for chips let alone artificial intelligence. 

And what will happen to all those casinos that are there and the ones that are being built? Will those be turned into high-tech hubs instead? 

It seems Beijing has major pipe dreams for Macau that may never become a reality...

Taking a Chance on Hainan

Tourists in Hainan will soon have horse racing to play along with surf and sand

The Chinese government is keen on developing Hainan into more than just "China's Hawaii" -- it's going to add horse racing and lotteries to the mix of entertainment that seems to be welcome news in the region.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club said in a statement that while "there has not been any discussion" so far with the Hainan authorities, but it would be pleased to exchange views on the promotion of equine sports there, if invited.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club welcomed the latest news

"The club is aware of the news reports that... the State Council... supports Hainan province developing equine sports," the club said.

Late on Saturday night the guidelines were released, a day after Xi Jinping announced plans to develop Hainan to have more economic freedom and greater market access.

While Beijing bans all kinds of gambling, it allows two types of lotteries, including one where punters predict the outcomes of international football [soccer] matches. It also allows horse racing but not betting. Sounds like an oxymoron, but that may change soon.

Since the 1990s there were attempts to get horse racing off the ground in China, with proposals in Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Nanjing. In 1992 a race course opened in Guangzhou, but was closed seven years later as an "unsatisfactory experiment".

Hainan's development will not impact Macau too much

Meanwhile analysts in Hong Kong believe this latest development will not impact Macau much, as the former Portuguese enclave has a fully developed industry that includes entertainment, conventions and exhibitions.

Hong Kong legislator Yiu Si-wing from the tourism sector believes the city can benefit from tourists who get a resort atmosphere from Hainan, and then the international city experience from Hong Kong.

With the central government's blessing, horse racing will happen soon -- but can you bet on it? Hard to say.

Vancouver's Latest Leisure Complex

On the sixth floor is a shallow pond and the steak house Victor

This evening we checked out the new casino complex in downtown Vancouver called Parq Vancouver, right next to BC Place Stadium.

Inside there are two floors of casinos and walk around and they're practically all Asian gamblers -- it's like walking around any casino in Macau except the dealers speak English. It was a surreal experience.

The 25-foot replica of a Douglas fir cut up intricately

There aren't one, but two hotels, JW Marriott and Douglas, an Autograph Collection Hotel. We checked out the lobby of the latter which features a reception desk that is a 25-foot replica of a Douglas fir log that's been intricately sliced up and lit from within and encased in glass. Pretty cool, until I found out it's a replica.

To the right of the reception desk is D6, a nice space for a lounge to enjoy drinks, complete with a billiard table and modern fireplace.

On the left is an outdoor space that looks into some people's condos across the street -- and they don't seem to mind -- and on the other side an up close view of BC Place in its LED glory. Tonight the fog had set in, so at first we felt like there was a canopy roof over us!

Past the outdoor space that includes a kind of shallow pond with lights is Victor, a steakhouse that also serves seafood and sushi. I've been told the Tomahawk steak at CAD$150 feeds six people. The restaurant also has a not-too-fussy vibe with lots of wood, and booth seating with green leather.

The hotel also boasts a ginormous ballroom at 15,604 square feet that holds 1,000 guests -- finally a venue for mega weddings, serving either Western or Chinese cuisines.

The interior of 1886, the fine-dining Chinese restaurant

On the third floor is 1886, a fine-dining Chinese restaurant that goes head-to-head with Mott 32 Vancouver. The latter has a more elaborate interior design, whereas 1886 -- the date Chinatown was established in Vancouver -- is more restrained but elegant with high ceilings and circular booth seating for smaller groups.

The opposite side of the room has several private rooms that can open up into one long one. One room was particularly boisterous the evening we went with mainland Chinese diners imbibing lots of alcohol with their dinner.

We were told by the manager the restaurant has been open for three months and is clearly meant to cater the gambling crowd as it's only steps away from the tables.

While this might be considered clever and convenient, the restaurant's location misses out on a huge segment of potential diners -- families. Only adults 19 years old and over can enter the casino area, hence 1886 is an adults-only restaurant.

In some ways this is good for customers who want a relatively quiet meal, but in terms of revenues, it's missing out on families who want to dine on dim sum with their children, or have Sunday night meals together.

Nevertheless, the food is pretty good overall and will raise the standards of Chinese cuisine in the city.

Parq Vancouver

39 Smithe Street

Vancouver

Tel: 604 683 7277

Frightening Inferno

Passengers watch the train carriage go up in flames at Tsim Sha Tsui station

During dinner tonight, around 7.20pm, my friend received a whatsapp message from her friend that there was an incident at the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station and to avoid taking the MTR. We then went on some news websites and soon discovered there was a fire in one of the train carriages going from Admiralty to Tsim Sha Tsui during rush hour.

Firemen attend to severe burns on one of those injured

Then shocking photos and videos emerged very quickly on social media -- there was a fire in the train carriage, and a man lying on the ground, his trousers were all burned to his thighs, exposing severe burns on his legs. Another showed him standing upright with his pant legs on fire.

Others showed passengers cupping their mouths in a very smoky carriage. At first it was four injured, then six and now 17.

The police have arrested a 60-year-old man, who they say, told passengers, "Burn you to death", then lit a Molotov cocktail and threw it in the packed train carriage before it reached Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station.

The man, Cheung Kam-fai, claimed to start the fire for "personal reasons", and police say initial investigations have found he has a poor relationship with his family, and he had previously been arrested for minor offenses, such as gambling.

Many witnesses describe the heavy smoke during the train ride

Yau Tsim District Commander Kwok Pak-chung dismissed suspicions it was a terrorist attack, saying so far there was no such evidence, but said they would not rule out any possibilities in their investigations.

My friend was grateful we were having dinner tonight, otherwise she might have been on that train...

Creative Gambling in Macau

Baccarat seems to be the game of choice for Chinese gamblers in Macau

Macau casinos are hurting badly these days as the rich -- or those who think they're lucky -- aren't heading to the former Portuguese enclave these days. Gambling revenues are down 36 percent from last year because of Bejiing's anti-corruption campaign.

However, they are still gambling.

There are reports that they now have a proxy gambler who is in Macau goes to the VIP baccarat tables.

The hired person will look like he is talking to himself, but really he's giving the play-by-play account of what's going on into an earpiece that's surreptitiously hidden behind some hair.

High rollers prefer making bets in VIP rooms

Perhaps baccarat is the game of choice because it's pretty straight forward -- the player has to decide if his hand or or the dealer's is closer to nine.

Some gamblers have two people working the tables, one actually playing, and the other discussing the play loud enough to be heard by the wireless headsets.

This is supposed to be illegal, as phone betting in Macau casinos has been banned, but with the gambling coffers down in the dumps, any kind of business is better than none at all, right?

The authorities claim they are cracking down, but with so many casinos and gambling tables to police, it's probably like picking a needle in a haystack.

Nevertheless, it's interesting to hear there is some gambling going on, though the hotel rooms, restaurants and shops remain empty...

Guo Meimei Trades Luxury for Prison Cell

Guo Meimei living the life -- back then on Weibo

Some girls just want to have fun.

That was the case of Guo Meimei, 23, who took lots of selfies or had others take pictures of her scantily clad in bikinis, or short dresses. She has a cherubic face, but Guo seems to have seduced herself into the world of luxury.

She took pictures of herself with luxury brand name bags like Hermes and Louis Vuitton, even striking poses in front of a Maserati that were uploaded onto her Weibo account, where she had almost two million followers.

She liked to pose with luxury cars and handbags

Then in 2011 netizens started digging up information about her online and found that she claimed to be a "commercial general manager" at the Red Cross Society of China, which the charity vehemently denied, but the damage was done -- donations plunged because the public was outraged at Guo and didn't trust the Red Cross anymore.

It turns out Guo's partner Wang Jun, 46, was a Shenzhen-based businessman who funded her shopping thrills. He planned to use the Red Cross brand for an advertising campaign, and Guo asked to head the new business venture.

One would have thought that fiasco would have ended the young woman's career, but she plunged headlong into higher stakes -- casinos.

Someone enjoyed money... a lot

She admitted operating an illegal gambling venue in Beijing as well as having sex with several unnamed men for money. She even fabricated a story that she had a 260 million yuan gambling debt in Macau to get herself back into the limelight.

Guo's antics were over when she and Wang were detained in July last year. Dressed in an orange prison garb, she made a tearful "confession" on state media, saying she concocted the affiliation with the Red Cross purely out of vanity.

"I like to show off," she said. "I have the vain mindset of a little girl."

Over a year after she was detained, Guo was sentenced to five years in jail and a 50,000 yuan fine yesterday in Beijing for running an illegal casino. Her associate Zhao Xiaolai pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years and fined 20,000 yuan.

While Guo admitted in court to taking part in illegal gambling and invited people to play high-stakes poker at a Beijing apartment, she denied running an illegal casino.

In court she looked plain, with no makeup on, wearing eyeglasses, a white shirt and frumpy black pants, a far cry from the sexy image she used to portray of herself.

Guo was sentenced in court yesterday for five years in jail

There are scant details of her life growing up except that she lived with her mother in Yiyang, Hunan province and then Shenzhen. Guo later studied at Beijing Film Academy in 2008.

Thus ends the fabulous life of Guo that was terribly short lived and desperate at the end. Her insatiable love of money that led her downfall. After she gets out of prison at the age of 28, what is she going to do then? And for the rest of her life?

We hope this is a lesson to all those young (pretty) girls in China who mistakenly believe life in the fast lane is fun...

Black Monday for China's Markets

Can Chinese President Xi Jinping continue to prop up the stock market?

World markets are recoiling in horror watching China's stock market take a big tumble today -- the Shanghai Composite Index plunged 8.52 percent, the worst close since 2007. The Hang Seng Index was down 5.17 percent, Shenzhen 7.7 percent.

The selling spree was estimated to erase $692 billion of market value in Chinese stocks. It's yet another sign of the Chinese economy slowing, but also that the central government doesn't really have control over the market like it thought it would.

A few weeks ago Beijing tried to prop up the market throwing lots of money into it to stabilize the volatility of stocks, but it wasn't enough to keep markets from staying in jittery mode as we saw today.

Chinese President Xi Jinping may have consolidated his power politically, but economically does he have the ability to control millions of shareholders?

Others believe the massive sell-off is an opportunity for a market correction, that the Chinese stock market was a bubble that needed to deflate a bit.

However Chinese stocks haven't been doing all that well except for a few days of massive growth spurts in June that then quickly leveled off and then fell.

Experts are predicting the Chinese economy will take a while to recover, seeing as production has slowed down, but when is anyone's guess.

"The government got badly burnt last time... Now the government doesn't want to underwrite a particular level. It doesn't want to be dictated to by market pundits," says veteran market watcher Fraser Howie.

Whoever said the stock market -- especially China's -- isn't a gamble?

Will There be Justice?

DSC boss Hui Ming-shun returned to Hong Kong was arrested yesterday

We are glad to hear the boss of defunct furniture and home electronics retailer DSC and his wife were arrested yesterday from arriving from Macau, a week after they disappeared. They conveniently covered themselves up with face masks, baseball caps and hoods.

One wonders what they were doing in Macau -- perhaps trying to double down to win back more money?

Hui Ming-shun, 61, and his wife and co-founder Lin Wai-yin, 55, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and still remain in police custody.

Meanwhile the staff are still waiting for their unpaid salaries and marched to Hong Kong government headquarters at Tamar to demand the authorities speed up the process of getting their money.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung came out to speak to the 70 or so DSC employees, but he didn't give them much good news.

"This morning we contacted the lawyer of Mr Hui to demand him to sign a declaration of insolvency and to determine as soon as possible the amount of money he owed to his employees," Cheung said.

"Once we receive Mr Hui's declaration, the Labour Department will help the employees to apply for legal aid to petition to wind up the company."

What happens if Hui doesn't care to declare bankruptcy? Does that mean he doesn't have to pay the staff what they are entitled to?

In the meantime the government says it will start determining how much money each employee is entitled to receive from the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund, with a maximum of HK$289,000 per person.

It seems Hui and Lin owe some HK$10 million in wages, and another HK$10 million to landlords and suppliers. They recently sold their Kowloon Tong flat, but who knows what other debts they have, or if they have squirreled their money away elsewhere.

The Labour Tribunal hearing on this case will be on August 21. It will be interesting to hear what Hui has to say in his defense...

China Lottery Online Not a Safe Bet

Some punters here are hoping to beat the system at China Lottery Online

Those who play the lottery in China may want to think twice when they want to try their luck.

The National Audit Office reported a month ago that a whopping 16.9 billion yuan in lottery funds from 2012 to 2014 have still been unaccounted for.

Wang Wenzhi, a veteran journalist with the Xinhua-affiliated Economic Information Daily newspaper may have the answer.

He wrote a letter to the Ministry of Finance, that was later leaked online, claiming it was technically possible for employees of China Lottery Online to install malware in computer systems "to make themselves winners", he said.

State-owned China Lottery Online operates computerized video lottery terminals and games. It also draws winning numbers and pays out billions of yuan in prize money each year.

Journalist Wang Wenzhi has uncovered other scandals before

Wang claimed the concentration of these functions in one company opened the possibility for "irregularities" in the management of data, prizes and funds.

He also said the lottery company was inadequately supervised by the authorities.

This is not the first time Wang fired a warning shot.

In May he wrote a related article that although China Lottery Online is supposed to be a state-owned business, he said it was controlled by its general manager, He Wen, who owned 60 percent of the company.

Wang accused He of using lottery funds for the benefit of the family of an unnamed government official.

While China Lottery Online generates ticket sales of more than 130 billion yuan in the 12 years until July last year, He's firms earned more than 2 billion yuan from operating the lottery.

As a result, He sued the Economic Information Daily for defamation, but the newspaper has asked the court to adjourn the case because the Ministry of Civil Affairs is investigating.

Wang is not new to exposing corruption. In an online post last year, he claimed that Song Lin, then chairman of China Resources, had a mistress in Hong Kong who allegedly helped Song launder large amounts of money from corrupt deals.

Two days after the post, anti-graft officials announced an investigation into Song, who was later sacked by the company for "suspected serious violations of discipline and law".

Either Wang is doing excellent investigative journalism, which is very hard to do, but given his Xinhua credentials it is possible, or he's got some contacts on the inside who want to take down He, or a combination of both.

Regardless, how this story unfolds will be one to watch.

Reversal of Fortune?

Steve Wynn unveils four Qing Dynasty vases with then CE Edmund Ho

In July 2011, casino magnate Steve Wynn purchased four rare porcelain baluster vases from the Qing Dynasty at Christie's auction in London for $12.8 million, several times more than the pre-sale estimate.

He has said that he is committed to returning Chinese treasures back to China, and this quartet of vases was donated to the Macau Special Administrative Region, where they are in a permanent collection of the Cultural Affairs Bureau's Macao Museum.

Looking back, the PR stunt seems to have been Wynn's attempt at cultivating guanxi with the mainland in the hopes it would lead to even better business in the future.

Stanley Ho with the horse's head he bought at auction in 2007

That's what Stanley Ho did too when he repatriated two animal heads that were looted from the Summer Palace in the 1800s. Ho purchased the boar's head in 2003 from a New York collector and donated it to China, and again the horse's head in 2007 from a private collection in Taiwan.

But having spent millions of dollars, what has come of it?

Instead of hoping for the investment -- oops repatriation of treasures -- to pay off, things have gone south in a really bad way.

Chinese President Xi Jinping continues to wage his battle against corruption and has not only settled his sights on gambling tables in Macau -- but worldwide.

"Some foreign countries see our nation as an enormous market, as we have investigated a series of cases," said Hua Jingfeng, a deputy bureau chief at the Ministry of Public Security. "A fair number of neighbouring countries have casinos, as they have set up offices in China to attract and drum up interest from Chinese citizens to go abroad and gamble. This will also be an area that we will crack down on."

Can we hear the pin drop in Macau, Manila, Singapore and Las Vegas?

Not only is the Chinese government cracking down on gamblers, but also the casinos trying to promote themselves. The authorities will make it harder for these "resorts" to advertise from billboards to print and even text messages.

Construction continues at Wynn Palace, phase two at Cotai

There will also be further restrictions on visa requirements, and the flow of money will be tracked by officials through UnionPay, the only domestic credit card in China.

Gambling revenues in Macau have dropped for the first time since foreign operators were allowed into the former Portuguese colony in 2002. In December alone gaming revenues plunged 30 percent.

The anti-corruption crackdown has scared the high rollers, who depended on junkets to not only get them to Macau, but also supply a steady stream of credit. Some 16 percent of junket operators shut down last year, some carrying debts.

Did Wynn know this was coming? If there were any signs, he didn't see them at all.

"China remains a big question mark. We have more questions than answers," he admitted during a conference call earlier this month. "Thousands of our Macau employees are anticipating promotion and a better life because of Wynn Palace... We have learned in the last 12 years to behave in China, and that is to listen carefully to what the leadership says and to conform with the program as we are their guest," Wynn said. "We wait for an announcement from the government with baited breath... What we are seeing in China is an entrenchment."

Wynn could only say that he hoped "our ambitions to grow in Macau will continue to develop".

Does that sound like cautious optimism or completely blindsided?

So much for the vases and the animal heads. Millions of dollars do not buy security.

While the big gamblers are barely trickling in these days, casino operators in Macau are now wondering if their $23 billion investment in their second phases to expand gambling tables and entertainment options will pay off now...

Who's Blaming Who?

Mainland Chinese flock to Macau for rest, relaxation and gambling! What else?

China has disciplined Macau, saying it needs to lessen its reliance on gambling revenue "in the interests of the whole nation".

Li Fei, in charge of Hong Kong and Macau affairs gave the warning yesterday to Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai-on before Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives to mark the 15th anniversary of the former Portuguese enclave's return to the mainland.

This past year has been a tough one for Macau, as Xi's anti-corruption campaign put a chill on many big rollers who usually go there to bet big... winning is another thing.

Li, who is also deputy secretary general of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, stressed that the "overwhelming dominance" of the gaming industry not only worked against the interests of Macau, but also the whole nation. Previous warnings were only focused on Macau.

The House of Dancing Water is a popular show...

"The overwhelming dominance of gambling in Macau is not in line with the overall interest of Macau and the fact that Macau's economy, especially gaming, is closely connected with the mainland determines that when one judges the overall interest of Macau, one cannot focus only on Macau's economic growth and tax revenue.

"One must take into account the socioeconomic safety, stability and developmental interest of the mainland and the whole nation," he said.

He added the mainland had give the city opportunities for development outside of gaming and it needed to explore these areas.

"The nation and the mainland provide Macau with many opportunities," Li said. "If the SAR can grab and fully utilize these conditions with good planning, scientific policy making and effective implementation, it is possible to explore a fresh development path of cooperation with the mainland in the nation's overall development framework."

So from that vague wording, what does Li mean? What opportunities has China given Macau in developing non-gaming areas? Could he please spell them out for us? Or do we have to play charades to get some clues?

The fact is, many of the casinos are building their new phases for the next two to three years and they are supposed to be more focused on more shopping and dining, and of course hotel rooms.

Melco Crown Entertainment has had one big hit, The House of Dancing Water, which is impressive and bizarre at the same time, but has struggled to capture the adult market with Taboo, that seems to undergo constant revamps without success.

... while Taboo leaves audiences squirming in their seats!

The show, which starts around 10pm, features scantily-clad dancers performing sexy routines, a singer and some acrobatic acts. For the most part the sexually-shy audience squirms when the dancers try to flirt with or tease them, and so most attendees only go once.

There are play areas for kids, but what other entertainment can these casinos come up with?

Actually the problem isn't entirely the fault of casinos not coming up with non-gaming options -- it's the mainland visitors who want to gamble.

They are the ones, up until recently, flooding the casinos and putting down bets, throwing coins into slot machines and trying their luck.

These visitors are shopping too, but it's really the gambling that they are in Macau for. They aren't really interested in the historical spots of the area, nor the food. They just want their dumplings and noodles and then continue playing baccarat or big/small.

Is it the fault of casinos for wanting to cater to their guests' needs and wants?

So perhaps Li is misplacing his blame somewhat and really it's Chinese residents he needs to berate for wanting to blow all their money against the odds?

Macau's Loss, Vegas' Gain?

Gambling revenues in Macau continue to drop for the fifth consecutive month

Macau is suffering its fifth straight monthly decline , with last month's earnings plunging 23.2 percent year on year to 28.025 billion patacas.

The crackdown on corruption on the mainland is to blame, along with a ban on smoking indoors and now the Umbrella Movement which has entered its sixth week.

On Monday Macau's secretary for economy and finance, Francis Tam Pak-yuen, says the government still predicts revenue gaming growth to continue to slow down "for a period of time", but did not elaborate on what kind of time frame he was looking at.

That news led to gaming stocks dropping from a range of 0.6 percent for MGM China to 3.4 percent for both Wynn Macau and Melco Crown.

It seems the ban on smoking indoors that began on October 6 may have had a negative effect on Macau, though it's most probably the street protests that probably scared off mainland visitors from coming to both Hong Kong and China.

China Union Gaming released a report Monday that said: "... the creation of a new high-level office on anti-corruption indicates to us that the broader [anti-graft] drive is far from over and that the greater number of human resources allocated to this department indicates that the number of cases that are prosecuted could continue to grow".

The report noted the number of bribery cases that are being prosecuted rose by 31 percent year on year to 6,500 so far this year.

Also, Chinese gamblers may be traveling further, to places like Las Vegas to avoid scrutiny.

Wynn Resorts saw a rise of 9 percent rise in its Nevada properties, compared to the 5.6 percent drop in Wynn Macau.

Wonder if this signals the beginning of Las Vegas' gambling revival?

Chasing Out Foreign Devils

The coffee shop the Garratts own in Dandong, Liaoning province

It is worrying to see China becoming aggressive again in its stance on foreigners and foreign companies in the country.

Officers from the National Development and Reform Commission raided the Shanghai office of Mercedes-Benz on Monday morning, looking for evidence the German luxury car maker, along with BMW, Audi and Chrysler were engaged in monopoly practices in charging high prices for spare parts and after sales services.

It is believed the NDRC probe is meant to force foreign car makers to slash prices of their vehicles which are selling for three times the price of other markets, like the United States.

But why, if people can afford them? And the cut in prices will affect wages of locals who are in joint ventures building these vehicles. Sounds like shooting oneself in the foot, does it not?

Do the wealthy care what the prices are? As the saying goes, if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it.

And in China, where status symbols reign supreme, the uber rich really want to prove how wealthy they are by what they drive.

Julia and Kevin Garratt are accused of spying in China

The other worry is a Canadian couple who own a coffee shop on the border between China and North Korea. They were detained over allegation of spying, according to Beijing authorities.

Kevin and Julia Garratt are under investigation for "suspected theft of state secrets about China's military and national defense research:, according to a Xinhua report.

The couple are originally from Vancouver and run a coffee house in Dandong, Liaoning province. They have lived in China for about 30 years and are Christian activists. Notice the "t" in "Peter" looks more like a cross...

Their son Peter says the charges are ridiculous, saying the coffee house is popular with expats because of the Western food they serve, while locals like to come here to practice their English.

Peter said he was questioned by police about what his parents did other than run the coffee shop and he replied his mother used to teach English at the university and his father works for North Star Aid, which helps the elderly in North Korea.

He added his parents were not trying to proselytize anyone and that they were obeying the law. Peter has no idea where these accusations of espionage come from and believes his parents will be cleared of the charges.

Does he have any understanding of the Chinese legal system? When they trump up charges like these, they will bend over backwards to find any shred of evidence to prove their accusations.

Just look at infamous web celebrity Guo Meimei.

Guo Meimei showed off inexplicable wealth on weibo

The 23-year-old cause outrage back in 2011 when she claimed to work for a subsidiary of the Red Cross Society of China, and at the same time flaunted pictures of her posing next to luxury sports cars and carrying luxury bags on her weibo account.

Last month she was detained on gambling-related charges and she confessed on television the other day, apologizing for her luxurious lifestyle and damaging the reputation of the charity.

"I like to show off. I have the vain mindset of a little girl," said Guo.

In a CCTV report, Guo admitted to operating a gambling venue in Beijing, and had sex with various men for no less than 100,000 yuan per encounter. Her personal assistant revealed how Guo was a compulsive gambler and would frequent Macau's casinos...

Did she really set up an illegal gambling den in Beijing? She's 23 years old and it seems more probable she made money prostituting her body to pay for her high life than to have the ability to set up an illegal business.

So the Garratts have to be careful -- they may think they are innocent, but not when the Chinese government seems to have an anti-foreigner agenda in mind...

Attempting to Stem the Flow

UnionPay is China's popular form of bank payment that has spread to casinos

Perhaps it was going to happen sooner or later, but after the reports of Macau's casinos taking in even more money than before, Beijing is cracking down on funds being illegally transferred to the former Portuguese enclave.

China's state-backed bank payment card UnionPay has announced a series of measures to "combat overseas money laundering, capital flight and other illegal bank card use" in Macau.

At the heart of the issue are the illegal hand-held payment devices that are used in and around the casinos for gamblers to access money back home. Analysts say the amount could be more than 40 billion yuan last year.

Casinos have made lots of money from UnionPay payments

Mobile UnionPay payment devices have illegally entered Macau and used for unauthorized dealings that look like domestic transactions, thereby circumventing currency controls.

By using these devices the users can also evade tax on the mainland, which is why authorization is needed.

While Macau police have orchestrated a few raids in recent months, seizing payment devices and cash, it has hardly made a dent into the amount of money flowing into the casino city.

"the growth in payment cards is huge, because of China's corruption crackdown. Mainland gamblers in Macau don't want to reveal how much they gamble, so they use cards," said one analyst. This could mean gambling revenue figures are under-reported.

The official amount is $45 billion last year, but the analyst thinks a further $90 billion was unreported.

Interestingly, if pawnbrokers are not part of this UnionPay device circuit, then they are losing out, as some 200 billion yuan in transactions are conducted through UnionPay cards in the pawnshop industry, about 20 percent of them through these mobile devices.

Traditionally gamblers who were in the red would pawn off their valuables, but now they just had to swipe their card and input a PIN number.

What happens in the next few months will be interesting to watch -- will the torrent of yuan barreling into Macau halt to a trickle? Or will gamblers and their Macau enablers find some other way to carry the billions of yuan over to play on the tables?

Still Going Strong

Thanks to both VIP and ordinary gamblers, Macau continues to win big

If there's one sure bet in Macau these days, it's the casinos.

The casinos combined in the former Portuguese enclave took in 31.3 billion patacas ($3.9 million) last month, up 10.6 percent from a year earlier, beating analysts' estimates and defying Chinese President Xi Jinping's crackdown on corruption.

Macau reported higher gaming revenue in the first four months of this year, an increase of 17.5 percent to 133.5 billiion patacas.

Of the casino operators, Sands China run by Sheldon Adelson seems to be hauling in quite a war chest of $938.1 million ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).

Meanwhile, Wynn Macau's ebitda was $384.3 million, beating expectations.

Analysts believe the good times are going to keep coming... for a while.

"The VIP segment appears to remain healthy, while the mass market remains exceptionally strong," said a research report by Macau-based Union Gaming Research.

VIP gamblers typically bet more than $1 million on baccarat during each visit to Macau, and use credit lines arranged by junket operators.

According to official data, there were 895,000 tour visitors in March, of which 698,000 were from the mainland.

It's impressive to see gamblers still pushing their luck despite the ongoing anti-corruption campaign on the mainland, but more importantly that gambling is still the main attraction in Macau for mainlanders despite the local government's push for more entertainment attractions...

The Cyber Wall of Shame

Gamble all you want, but just don't have a line of credit running...

Despite the economy slowing down in China, Macau's gambling tables are still going strong. In August, gambling revenue from the city's 35 casinos rose 17.6 percent to 30.7 billion patacas, the first time it has gone over the 30 billion pataca mark.

However, that doesn't mean all the money has been collected.

And so a bilingual website is trying to shame gamblers into paying their debts by posting the personal details of more than 70 people from China.

The Singapore-based site is called Wonderful World in English, and the details include the deadbeat's photograph, date of birth, marital status, how much they owe, and a bounty is even offered to help track them down.

So far the site has recovered over 50 million yuan ($8 million).

The only glitch is that collecting gambling debts is illegal in China, and so Macau's casinos depend on junkets -- companies or agents that bring in high rollers -- to settle the debts. The junkets are usually large conglomerates that are able to lend millions of yuan to gamblers.

Launched a year ago, the site originally posted news and entertainment, but then started the debt blacklist two months ago at the suggestion of Mr Teng, the site administrator's friend.

What's interesting is that the debtors' information comes from the creditors and they can post it up free on the site. Wonderful World does not get any fee or percentage of the money recovered, and the site is cooperating with the police, even though they are investigating the site for an internal report.

"The most important thing is we want more people to see our website," said Teng.