Slow Train Coming

Taiwan’s two decades of gaming reform

1993—The Penghu Development Commission sends representatives on a fact-finding tour to Manila in the Philippines for insight and information on how to set up a casino industry.

November 1993—The Taiwan authorities begin formal investigations into the feasibility of a domestic casino project.

1996—Taiwan’s lower house of parliament drafts a bill to legalise casino gaming. The draft bill is sent to the executive upper house but is shelved following political deadlock.

2000—The Isolated Islands Construction Act is debated for the first time by Taiwan’s parliament. The act includes a clause to allow gaming as an economic development option. The act is passed, but the casino clause is rejected.

2002—A second attempt at legalising casino gaming ends in political stalemate.

2003—Penghu holds its first local referendum on gaming. The proposal receives the support of 57% of those voting, although less than a quarter of the residents bother turning out. Nonetheless the local government uses the poll as the basis for talks with the central government on legalisation of gaming.

2004—15% of the US$230 million earned by Sands Macao in its first year of operation comes from Taiwanese gamblers, according to estimates from the casino’s developer Las Vegas Sands Corp.

2005—The Taiwanese media reports that Sheldon Adelson, Chairman and Chief Executive of LVS, visits Taiwan to meet then president Chen Shui-bian to discuss the likelihood of casino legalisation on the island.

May 2005—A draft bill to legalise casino gaming runs out of parliamentary time reportedly because of a filibuster by anti-gaming MPs.

January 2009—The governing Kuomintang (KMT) uses its large parliamentary majority to push through by 71 votes to 26 the necessary preparatory law to legalise casino gaming. It relates not to the main island of Taiwan but to offshore islands, namely Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu.

Opposition Democratic Progressive Party legislators vote against the bill, citing concerns about debt, crime and environmental degradation.

Officials of Taiwan’s Public Construction Commission state the country’s legislature will need to amend another law called the Statute of Offshore Island Development before the legalisation of casino gaming in outlying islands can come into effect.

February 2009—Little Kinmen, also known as Lieyu, an islet township just west of Taiwan’s outlying island of Kinmen, declares it will hold a referendum on casino gaming in April.

February 2009—Penghu County officials say they plan to hold a referendum on casino gaming in June this year.

May 2009—Penghu County officials cast doubt on the prospects of a referendum, saying an insufficient number of signatures had been collected from voters. Under Taiwan’s Referendum Act, 5% of registered voters who took part in the county commissioner election—3,521 in Penghu’s case—must sign a petition before the referendum to take place.

February 2010—Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications due to open international bids for casino resorts in Taiwan.

2013—Possible opening date for first Taiwan casino.