The Chinese Embassy in Singapore has issued a notice calling for Chinese citizens to steer clear of gambling during the Chinese New Year holiday, citing an alleged incident in which a Chinese national jumped from a building after gambling at Marina Bay Sands.
The warning was issued via a notice on the embassy’s official WeChat site on Saturday and later reported by China’s English-language media outlet The Global Times. However, IAGnotes that an almost identical notice was posted by the Chinese Consulate General in Da Nang, Vietnam, which references a Chinese national jumping to their death from a building after involvement in a “gambling activity”.
The notice states that the Chinese Embassy in Singapore has handled several similar cases linked to gambling in recent years, adding that with Chinese New Year arriving it was important for Chinese citizens to refrain from gambling.
“First, gambling is strictly prohibited under Chinese law, and the amendment to the Criminal Law has formally criminalized cross-border gambling,” the notice states. “Even if casinos are legally operating overseas, Chinese citizens who gamble across borders are suspected of violating Chinese law, especially those involved in organizing gambling activities, and will be held legally accountable. Embassies and consulates cannot provide consular protection for illegal activities.
“Second, participating in gambling leads to a path of no return, including financial ruin, family breakdown and even death. Cross-border gambling may also bring risks such as fraud, money laundering, kidnapping, detention, human trafficking and smuggling.
“Third, the Ministry of Public Security of China has launched a comprehensive reporting platform for combating and governing cross-border gambling.”
The embassy said it calls on anyone who has information about Chinese nationals gambling to report them via the platform.
China has regularly issued warnings against cross-border gambling, including the highly-publicized 2020 announcement by China’s Ministry of Culture that it had established a “blacklist” of overseas tourist destinations it said were disrupting the nation’s outbound tourism market by opening casinos targeting mainland Chinese customers.
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