Will Penghu Become Macau’s Rival?
October 11th, 2007Author: Mark Newman
Taiwanese politicians expect Penghu, a set of small islets off Taiwan, to become the next Macau. A casino town, though gambling is illegal in Taiwan, is to be built there, the purpose of which is to attract Chinese tourists.
The idea of building a casino appeared during the 1990s. Finally, the construction work began in July.
It will take you 45 minutes to go from Taipei to Penghu by plane. About 70,000 people live there, but their life depends on tourism, marketing seafood and relaxed atmosphere. Now, because of a small number of tourists there as Taiwan has been accepting a limited number of Chinese tourists, the casino is believed to restore the island’s economy.
The ban was lifted in April, but since that time only 117 Chinese have visited Penghu. So, so far, Taiwanese have lost the opportunity and lost their tourists.
Taiwanese have different opinions regarding the casino. Some of them support the idea expecting the island to become a resort destination, some of them are rather negative saying that it will make the life on the islets less safe and corrupt public morality.
Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian would not like to become economically dependent on China, is cautious about the plan. “But presidential candidates of both ruling and opposition parties eyeing next spring’s election are more open to the idea”.
