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Viewing cable 08HONGKONG259, PRC CENTRAL GOVERNMENT COMFORTABLE WITH U.S.

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08HONGKONG259 2008-02-12 08:21 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Consulate Hong Kong
VZCZCXRO5640
OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHHK #0259/01 0430821
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 120821Z FEB 08
FM AMCONSUL HONG KONG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4109
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HONG KONG 000259 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR G/TIP AND EAP/CM 
NSC FOR DENNIS WILDER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2033 
TAGS: KCRM SMIG SOCI PGOV PHUM CACS CH MC MG HK
SUBJECT: PRC CENTRAL GOVERNMENT COMFORTABLE WITH U.S. 
PRESENCE IN MACAU -- BUT LIFT SANCTIONS ON BDA! 
 
REF: A. 07 HONG KONG 2775 
     B. HONG KONG 255 
 
Classified By: Consul General James B. Cunningham, for reasons 1.4 (b) 
and (d) 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY:  PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs Commissioner 
to Macau Wan Yongxiang told Consul General Cunningham on 
January 30 that Beijing was comfortable with the rapid rise 
of U.S. and other foreign investment in Macau's gaming and 
tourism industry and, despite some stresses as Macau society 
deals with explosive economic growth, Beijing believes that 
the Macau government has the capacity and will to deal with 
the new challenges.  Commissioner Wan told the CG that the 
central government welcomed the U.S. gaming investors and 
that mainland China was doing a lot to support the growth in 
Macau's gaming and tourism sectors -- the large majority of 
Macau's 27 million tourists in 2007 came from mainland China, 
he noted.  Wan also welcomed and encouraged the Consul 
General's efforts to improve services to and support for the 
U.S. business community in Macau and to work more closely 
with the Macau government to set up better coordination 
channels to deal with potential large-scale accidents or 
emergencies involving American citizens.  Wan's only caution 
was a quiet reference to President Hu Jintao's comments at 
the recent Party Congress that China supported Macau and Hong 
Kong's engaging external exchanges, though it would firmly 
oppose the "interference" in Hong Kong and Macau affairs by 
external forces.  Emphasizing that he was speaking only 
"personally," Wan made a clear request that the U.S. 
recognize the significant contributions Macau made to the Six 
Party Talks in helping to resolve the BDA case, and claimed 
that strict regulation and management reforms are now in 
place at BDA.  The United States should consider lifting the 
sanctions against this popular and long-established local 
bank, said Wan.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (C) COMMENT: The chain-smoking Wan spent a full hour in 
conversation with the CG, at all times keeping his remarks 
calmly up-beat, confident and low-key.  Significantly, he at 
no time gave credence to the sometimes shrill anti-American 
invective which occasionally finds its way into Macau's 
press.  (Note: These anti-American rants seem to be coming 
specifically from a very small number of business people 
allied with former gambling monopoly kingpin Stanley Ho, who 
now is getting a run for his money from the big, new American 
gaming investors.  They do not seem to be gaining any 
traction in Macau society at large.)  Wan emphasized the 
positive effects that the influx of foreign investment had on 
Macau, but indicated the Macau government and Beijing were 
keenly aware of the need to take practical measures to ensure 
that Macau's economy remain somewhat diversified and that 
Macau's more vulnerable citizens were adequately taken care 
of.  He in no way tried to assign blame for social stresses 
on the American companies and he welcomed, rather than warned 
against, the Consulate General's playing a more active role 
with the U.S. community in Macau.  His "personal" request for 
us to lift sanctions against BDA was presented as a possible 
friendly gesture we could make in the interest of winning 
approval from the Macau public.  END COMMENT. 
 
3. (C) In a January 30 meeting with Wan Yongxiang, the PRC 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs' commissioner in Macau, Consul 
General Cunningham opened by briefing Wan on the Consulate 
General's efforts to: assist the growing U.S. community in 
Macau, establish a distinct American Chamber of Commerce 
(AmCham), ensure Macau society viewed the U.S. presence 
positively, and work with the Macau government to establish 
effective communication and coordination in case of 
large-scale accident or emergency.  The CG noted that the 
U.S. community has more than doubled in the last couple of 
years and probably numbers about 2,000 now, a number which is 
likely to continue to grow.  The Consulate must make sure we 
are actively serving the American community, particularly in 
the provision of emergency and non-emergency consular 
services.  It is difficult to do this only from our base in 
Hong Kong, said the CG, so we were having to find ways to 
engage the American community, and Macau's government and 
society, more than we had in the past.  The CG noted that 
ideally he would like to be able to have an officer located 
in Macau full-time, but within the U.S. government system 
that is not easy to do.  Thus we have to find other ways to 
better serve the community. 
 
4. (C) Citing as an example the January 11 ferry collision in 
Macau, in which 19 passengers were seriously injured and more 
than a hundred less seriously injured, the CG told 
Commissioner Wan that we had discovered that, if Americans 
 
HONG KONG 00000259  002 OF 003 
 
 
had been among those injured (they were not) there would have 
been no way for Consulate General officials to get over to 
Macau in a timely way -- both the ferry and helicopter 
services were suspended after the accident, because of heavy 
fog. 
 
5. (C) The chain-smoking Wan told the CG that governments 
need to assist and support their nationals overseas, the 
Macau government does the same thing, as does the Chinese 
government.  It was understandable that we would seek to do 
this.  He welcomed the CG's reaching out to the Macau 
government to establish good coordination and communication, 
particularly for emergencies.  Wan asked the CG how the new 
American Chamber of Commerce in Macau was doing; the CG 
replied with a quick overview of the chamber's growth in the 
last year, the structure of work committees focused on 
particular business issues of interest to members and the 
desire of the AmCham to play a role in organizing the U.S. 
business community to ensure that Macau society at large 
benefited from the large inflows of American investment and 
very rapid economic growth Macau was experiencing. 
Commissioner Wan indicated he saw these as positive 
developments. 
 
6. (C) Wan gave his own assessment of the current economic 
and political situation in Macau, which he judged to be good 
and moving in a positive direction, despite some stresses. 
Macau government statistics indicated GDP growth of about 
26%, "extremely fast, and a big change from the past."  He 
acknowledged that U.S. investment in the gaming industry was 
a key driver of this growth, which had brought a lot of good 
to Macau: government revenues and personal incomes were both 
rising.  Most Macau citizens were satisfied with the Macau 
government's performance and the foreign investment.  Wan 
noted that when he first arrived in Macau five years ago, the 
Macau government only provided nine years of public 
education; now, they have raised it to 15.  The government 
has lowered the age at which citizens can receive retirement 
benefits from 65 to 60, and medical and other government 
support can now reach many more citizens. 
 
7. (C) Some downsides existed, however, and "a small number 
of citizens are complaining."  The rate of growth is too fast 
and imbalances are arising.  "Some have gained more, some 
have gained less from the growth."  In some sectors, new 
balance points would be established, in others, maybe not. 
But this is normal in developing economies, said Wan.  One 
issue of concern to both the Macau and central governments 
was the growing disequilibrium between different economic 
sectors, and the stresses that a booming gaming sector was 
causing for businesses in other sectors.  For instance, the 
well-funded and highly profitable gaming enterprises were 
expanding very rapidly and bidding up prices of salaries for 
workers and managers.  Small and medium size enterprises 
(SMEs) and manufacturing simply could not match the new 
salaries offered by the casinos and hotels and were losing 
workers.  This was causing the Macau economy to become overly 
reliant on the gaming/tourism sector and this increasing lack 
of diversification was a concern.  For instance, said Wan, 
should there be another pandemic like SARS, the flow of 
tourists might dry up dramatically, and the Macau economy 
would have no other productive sectors to cushion the blow. 
 
8. (C) Other negative social effects were being felt.  Many 
students were dropping out of high school to take up 
relatively well-paid jobs at the casinos.  "Even if they stay 
a few more years and complete their education they won't make 
any more money, so they quit."  Citizens were manifesting 
their complaints in recent public demonstrations, Wan said, 
citing larger than normal crowds at the traditional May Day 
labor rally, as well as large demonstrations on PRC National 
Day (October 1) and Macau SAR establishment day, December 20. 
 Thousands of people took to the streets, said Wan, most of 
whom represented the "most vulnerable" members of society. 
"A few" of the demonstrators were calling for political 
reform, Wan admitted, and, "Frankly, we have the same 
problems in mainland China.  These problems come with 
development.  We need to pay attention to them, and deal with 
them by reform," he claimed.  Wan credited the Macau 
government for carefully researching and understanding the 
nature of the problems Macau faces and dealing with them in a 
frank and direct manner.  "The SAR government will resolve 
these problems gradually, one by one," said Wan. 
 
9. (C) The Macau government remains open to U.S. investors, 
Wan affirmed, and continued to take measures to help the 
foreign companies; Wan also indicated the central government 
is basically comfortable with the massively increased 
 
HONG KONG 00000259  003 OF 003 
 
 
presence of the U.S. and other foreign investors.  "Any 
company is welcome here, so long as they abide by the laws. 
The central government and mainland Chinese citizens have 
been big supporters of the development of Macau's gaming and 
tourism sectors.  More than half of Macau's 27 million 
tourists come from mainland China, and the individual visitor 
scheme has been very successful.  The Macau government will 
carefully protect the security and the property of foreign 
investors in Macau.  The central government's policies are 
very clear on this, as Hu Jintao said at the recent Party 
Congress: The central government supports Hong Kong and Macau 
to have interactions with foreigners, so long as there is no 
interference." 
 
10. (C) The Consul General remarked that we have welcomed the 
willingness of the Macau government to cooperate with us on 
important issues, such as money laundering and trafficking in 
persons; we think this is in China,s interest as well.  Wan 
focused quickly on money laundering, noting that it was a 
problem which governments around the world are only now 
beginning to understand better.  The SAR government is paying 
a lot of attention to it, he said, pointing to the 
anti-money-laundering laws Macau passed in 2006.  Wan 
affirmed that fighting money laundering is within the 
autonomous purview of the Macau SAR government, but when he 
has talked to them about it, he found them taking it very 
seriously.  When the CG noted his interest in seeing Macau 
implement the  recommendations in the recent Asia Pacific 
Group (APG) survey of Macau (reftel), Wan noted that the APG 
"had not found big problems here." 
 
11. (C) Commissioner Wan then raised the matter of Banco 
Delta Asia.  The CG said that from the USG point of view, the 
BDA issue is resolved.  The owner has decided not to sell it 
or put it under new management, and it will thus likely 
remain cut off from the international financial system.  Wan 
nodded but said, "The Macau government understood your 
concerns about BDA and helped you get the Six Party Talks 
re-opened.  The help that Macau provided on this was not easy 
-- the way the SAR government resolved the matter of the 
(North Korean) funds was not in accordance with normal 
financial regulation."  "In my personal, not official, 
opinion the SAR government took very serious measures to deal 
with the problems at BDA.  After serious investigation, the 
government in fact did not find very compelling evidence of 
money laundering at BDA, though it  did find evidence of 
mismanagement.  The government had to give BDA back to the 
owner, but the owner has significantly tightened internal 
controls and the government has tightened regulation of BDA." 
 
12. (C) Once again emphasizing he was speaking "personally," 
Wan asked, "Since the SAR government and BDA have done so 
much to resolve these problems, isn't it time to consider 
lifting the sanctions against BDA?  BDA is a local bank with 
a 70-year history.  Keeping it on the list not only affects 
the bank, it affects the perceptions of the people of Macau 
about the United States.  Lifting the sanctions would have a 
very positive effect on public opinion here."  The CG 
repeated that without a change in the management of the bank, 
he doubted that the USG would change its view.  Wan then 
pushed for details about what needed to change within the 
management and noted that BDA had cut off all contact with 
the North Koreans.  The CG deflected discussion of this. 
Cunningham