Posted on: September 15, 2023, 06:53h.
Last updated on: September 15, 2023, 06:53h.
Chinese authorities have arrested a number of students for their roles in promoting gambling in the Philippines. At least two of the students now face prison, but, according to them, someone at the school arranged for them to participate in the program.
In 2021, law enforcement apprehended several individuals linked to the Changde Cruise Attendants Vocational School in Xinyang in China’s Henan province. They were charged with promoting a cross-border gambling enterprise, but remained free on bail until they had to appear in court for sentencing.
That happened this week, and a Henan court sentenced two of the students to a minimum of eight months, possibly as much as a year, behind bars. They were found guilty of marketing gambling activities at unidentified Philippine casinos.
Innocent Doesn’t Mean Not Guilty
The students claimed that their school had proposed the idea of working for a Filipino company in order to advertise its video games. They were given an assignment that involved identifying potential purchasers for recreational equipment, oblivious to the fact that they were actually promoting an illegal gambling operation.
The sentences are the latest involving at least a dozen students at the school who traveled to the Philippines to participate in the program. In March, according to the news agency ThePaper.cn, a Xinyang court issued a similar 8-month sentence, but suspended it for a year.
That unidentified student had also been charged with enticing individuals to engage in casino gambling. Investigations discovered that he had been employed by a Manila gambling website for more than two years, from 2018 to 2020, and was responsible for sourcing players from China to gamble on the site. In return, the casino paid him about CNY160,000 (US$22,000).
In August, a fellow student was found guilty of the same offense. This time, however, the court sentenced them to one year in prison, suspending it for two years.
Deng Guangzhou, the principal of the school, has asserted that he had no knowledge of the illegal nature of the program. A firm in Shenzhen in the Guangdong province set up the scheme, according to Deng, who added that he thought it was a legitimate work opportunity.
He acknowledged that the students had to pay for their own tuition fees and a travel visa, around CNY10,500 (US$1,442), but that this was the extent of the school’s involvement. The students, however, have testified that they had to pay the school CNY10,000 (US$1,374) in order to participate in the program.
Lawyers for the students are trying to appeal the decision.
China Keeps Anti-Gambling Pressure on SE Asia
The case is damaging to both the Philippines and China. The former has been dealing with several scandals involving illegal gambling and human trafficking, and this only adds to the trouble.
China, on the other hand, has a long-standing anti-gambling policy. It has tried to persuade countries across SE Asia to adopt the same mentality or, at the very least, keep its citizens from cross-border gambling.
The Philippines is willing to work with the country to resolve illegal gambling and human trafficking concerns, as it has publicly confirmed. However, it isn’t ready to go beyond that.
Other countries in the region are more prepared to follow China’s lead. Malaysia, Myanmar and Cambodia are among those that have decided to increase their anti-gambling stances and help China keep its people under control.
Another is Vietnam, which is reportedly working more closely with Beijing. The two recently signed a memorandum of understanding on political security and the flow of money. The agreement could see authorities in Vietnam report, or freeze, money movements, giving all of the personal information of those involved to their Chinese counterparts.
Erik Gibbs
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