Operator News

Japan – Japanese politician raises concerns over Japan targeting Chinese players

By Phil - 22 February 2021

Japanese politician Kenji Eda, a member of the House of Representatives, has raised concerns over how Japan’s future integrated resort casinos could attract Chinese customers and if in doing so it could be added to a blacklist being put together by the Chinese government concerning foreign gaming destinations targeting Chinese players.

Mr. Eda said: “In August 2020, China announced that it would create a blacklist system to restrict travel to foreign cities that had a casino, with the allegation that overseas casinos threatened the property and safety of their citizens. With that in mind, we can understand that there are concerns that overseas casinos are a hotbed of crime, particularly corruption and graft. I request an answer if the government is aware of this system.

“Further to this, adding to the impact of the coronavirus, could have a major impact on casino operation in East Asia, which relies heavily on wealthy Chinese visitors. In the past, The Chinese government has restricted travel to South Korea because of deployment of the US military’s ground-based missile interception system, and there is a risk they could use this system politically. Considering this system, even if we build casinos in Japan, we cannot have expectations that foreigners, and especially Chinese tourists, will be able to visit.”

The Japanese government said, it was waiting for ‘specific details’ to be announced regarding the blacklist before commenting.

Caption: MGM’s plans for Osaka