Chinese student arrested for encouraging gambling
Chinese authorities have arrested several students for their role in promoting gambling in the Philippines.
There are currently at least two students facing prison sentences, but they said someone at the school arranged for them to participate in this program.
In 2021, law enforcement arrested several individuals linked to the Changde Cruise Steward Vocational School in Xinyang, China’s Henan province.
They were charged with promoting a cross-border gambling business, but remained on bail until they appeared in court to be sentenced.
This happened this week and a court in Henan sentenced two of the students to a minimum sentence of eight months or a maximum of one year in prison.
They were found guilty of marketing gambling activities at unspecified casinos in the Philippines.
Innocent does not mean not guilty
The students said their school proposed the idea of working for a Philippine company to promote their video games.
They were tasked with identifying potential buyers of entertainment equipment, not realizing that they were actually promoting illegal gambling.
This is the latest conviction involving at least dozens of students from the school who went to the Philippines to participate in the program.
In March, according to news agency ThePaper.cn, a court in Xinyang imposed a similar sentence of eight months in prison but suspended it for one year.
This unidentified student was also charged with inciting individuals to play at the casino.
The investigation found that he worked for a gambling website in Manila for more than two years, from 2018 to 2020, and was responsible for recruiting Chinese players to play on the site.
In return, the casino paid him about 160,000 CNY (22,000 USD).
In August, a fellow student was convicted of the same crime.
But this time, the court sentenced them to one year in prison, suspended for two years.
Dang Quang Chau, principal of the school, affirmed that he knew nothing about the illegal nature of this program.
According to Deng, a company in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, launched the program, adding that he believes it is a legitimate work opportunity.
He admitted that students must pay their own tuition and tourist visa fees, about 10,500 CNY (1,442 USD), but that is just the extent of the school’s involvement.
However, the students testified that they had to pay the school 10,000 CNY (1,374 USD) to participate in the program.
The student’s lawyer is trying to appeal the decision.
China maintains anti-gambling pressure in Southeast Asia
This problem is detrimental to both the Philippines and China.
Having previously faced several scandals related to illegal gaming and human trafficking, this only added to the problem.
Meanwhile, China has a long-standing anti-gambling policy.
He tried to convince Southeast Asian countries to have a similar mentality or at least prevent their citizens from gambling across borders.
The Philippines is ready to cooperate with the country to address the problems of illegal gambling and human trafficking as it has been publicly confirmed.
However, he’s not ready to go beyond that.
Other countries in the region are more willing to follow China’s lead.
Malaysia, Myanmar and Cambodia are among the countries that have decided to strengthen their anti-gambling stance and help China control its people.
Another example is Vietnam, which appears to be cooperating more closely with Beijing.
The two recently signed a memorandum of understanding on political security and financial flows.
This agreement could cause Vietnamese authorities to warn or freeze money transfer activities, thereby handing over all personal information of those involved to Chinese partners.
