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DE RUEHHK #0283/01 0441116
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 131116Z FEB 09
FM AMCONSUL HONG KONG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6891
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HONG KONG 000283 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/20/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EFIN EINV ETRD HK MC
SUBJECT: MACAU CHIEF EXECUTIVE DOWNPLAYS SIGNS OF 
ANTI-FOREIGN SENTIMENT 
 
REF: STATE 10854 
 
Classified By: Consul General Joe Donovan, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: The Consul General met on February 13 with 
Macau's Chief Executive (CE) Edmund Ho to deliver reftel 
talking points and non-paper.  The CE confirmed his 
government's commitment to a level playing field for all 
investors in Macau, regardless of nationality.  He said 
anti-foreign sentiment in Macau has not increased, despite 
recent inflammatory public comments by gaming billionaire 
Stanley Ho (no relation to the CE) and other local residents. 
The CE believed Stanley Ho's recent outbursts reflected his 
personal animosity toward Sheldon Adelson, the majority 
shareholder of Las Vegas Sands Corporation (LVS) - Macau's 
largest foreign investor.  Ho said the GOM would display 
flexibility toward Macau's six gaming concessionaires, and 
would support LVS efforts to sell stakes to strategic 
partners in LVS' unfinished properties in Macau, if 
necessary.  In a separate meeting, MFA Commissioner Lu Shumin 
said the PRC's recently imposed visa restrictions were 
designed to protect the savings of "ordinary citizens" and 
stem the flow of corrupt Mainland officials traveling to 
Macau with public money.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Comment: Statements by our interlocutors in Macau 
support the CE's assertion that anti-foreign sentiment in 
Macau has not significantly increased to date.  While a 
disgruntled minority of Macau residents may fear the radical 
economic and societal changes brought to Macau by foreign 
gaming company investments, the vast majority have materially 
benefited.  Government surpluses and Macau's gross domestic 
product have never been higher, unemployment remains low, and 
real wages have increased significantly.  Absent a mass 
layoff or bankruptcy-related shutdown by one of the foreign 
gaming companies, we expect anti-foreign sentiment to remain 
low in Macau.  End comment. 
 
Macau CE Committed to Fair Competition 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) In a February 13 meeting with Macau's Chief Executive 
(CE) Edmund Ho, the Consul General discussed Macau's gaming 
market, GOM regulatory oversight of junket operators, and the 
anti-foreign investment comments by Stanley Ho and other 
local residents.  Septel will report on their conversation 
about Article 23 legislation and trafficking in persons.  The 
CG presented the points included in the Department's 
non-paper (reftel).  He emphasized the positive role that 
American investment continues to play in Macau, and noted 
that equal treatment for all investors in Macau is crucial to 
the Special Administrative Region's continued economic 
success. 
 
¶4. (C) The CE said his government is committed to maintaining 
an "open economy with a level playing field for all 
competitors."  He said there had been no increase in 
anti-foreign or anti-American sentiment in Macau, and Stanley 
Ho's comments reflected a personal dispute between Ho and LVS 
majority stakeholder Sheldon Adelson.  The CE said, "Stanley 
can sometimes be a cry-baby.  He isn't against foreigners. 
He just dislikes Sheldon, and vice-versa." 
 
¶5. (C) The CE discounted a January 19 public gathering by 
approximately 50 Macau residents in the Emperor Hotel (owned 
by Stanley Ho), during which they criticized LVS for stopping 
work on the company's large construction projects in Macau 
and "humiliating the Macau people."  The CE said such 
comments were "more anti-government than anti-foreign" and 
noted that Macau residents were guaranteed the right under 
Macau's constititution to freely speak their minds.  While 
the CE believed Stanley Ho was not behind the public protest, 
he said, "Stanley is quite pleased about it, but he doesn't 
recognize that such things could be bad for him too." 
 
GOM Cooperation With Concessionaires in Downturn 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶6. (C) Commenting on the health of Macau's gaming industry 
during the global economic downturn, the CE said all six of 
Macau's gaming concessionaires would "come out of this OK." 
He said, "I give credit to Adelson, because of his vision. 
But I've told him he moved too fast.  The Macau market was 
not going to be able to absorb all of his investment, even 
without the economic downturn."  The CE said the GOM would be 
flexible in reviewing LVS asset sale requests, and would 
allow LVS to bring in strategic partners if necessary.  He 
said the Central Government in Beijing wants U.S. investors' 
interests in Macau defended, even though "they will not come 
 
HONG KONG 00000283  002 OF 002 
 
 
out and say that publicly." 
 
Beijing's MFA Commissioner on Visa Restrictions 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶7. (C) In a separate meeting on February 13, MFA Commissioner 
in Macau Lu Shumin told the CG that Central Government 
leaders are concerned that "most of Macau's gamblers and 
dollars" come from the Mainland.  Lu confirmed that his 
office in Macau was not deeply involved in the 
decision-making process that restricted visa availability for 
mainland Chinese visitors traveling to Macau.  Explaining the 
rationale for imposing those restrictions, Lu said, "We want 
to protect ordinary citizens.  We don't want them spending 
their newly built up savings on gambling."  Lu also noted 
that "certain government functionaries" had been coming to 
Macau with public money.  He said Macau must "diversify its 
development away from gaming."  Lu did not believe 
anti-foreign sentiment in Macau would become mainstream.  He 
said Beijing remained committed to help maintain financial 
and social stability in Macau, in part to ensure an 
attractive competitive environment for all investors. 
DONOVAN