Rear Window | Big cat a mouse click away

Severo Portela

As Macau population came to the final stage of its peculiar mode to handle ´difficult situations´ in the detention of former Prosecutor-general Ho Chio Meng, another high-profile case hit the once insulated enclave: CCDI (Central Commission for Discipline Inspection) announced that Li Jia, neighboring Zhuhai´s Party Committee Secretary, is a suspect and under investigation for “serious disciplinary offenses”- a euphemism for corruption.
As in the recovery of contusions, let it swell a bit, put it to sleep and the swelling will be completely gone, and, pardon us for the poor metaphor, it can be applied to the MSAR case. However, it is useless to attempt to contain the case of the fourth Provincial-level cadre to the accusation of corruption in Guangdong since President Xi fired up the anti-graft campaign against tigers and flies. Li Jia was considered to be close to the fallen Guangzhou Party top cadre, Wan Qingliang.
The sudden downfall of the young CCP star, Li Jia (52, Hunan born) called the attention of outside observers, and Mainland media alike, since news broke while the Party Secretary was attending a public event. Li met a delegation of Kyrgyzstan officials 24 hours before his arrest. A month ago, Li led a delegation of Zhuhai officials to Macau.
Apparently the CCDI investigation and subsequent arrest of Zhuhai´s Party boss could be related to his political association with Wan Qingliang and his Meizhou tenure (2003-2012). But that would be rather…out of place. Li was posted in Zhuhai in 2012, in time to look for the ambitious development of Hengqin Island: the lifeline to Macau’s diversification!
Hengqin has been all the while, through this unravelling period, both one thing and all things at the same time. Imagination seemed to be the limit to the wildest ideas to develop the enormous Zhuhai area Central government ´gave´ Macau Special Administrative Region to diversify from the gaming industry and better integrate with the Pearl River Delta. It is possible that in this frontier mood, some leisure and entertainment entrepreneurs began to encourage wrong ideas about the limits of entertainment and financial services.
The doubling of the Hengqin free trade zone through reclamation, the selection of the director-general of the department of Commerce of Guangdong Province to replace Li Jia, and the importance of the Guangdong-Macau Cooperation Industrial Park as an engine to diversify and move away from the utter dependence on the casino business that Secretary Leong has been underlining, point to an industry model.
On the gambling side, in spite of the softening of the GGR to March’s MOP 21.48 billion, a little over the new normal, there are some clouds to Macau casino business. Gaming entrepreneurs are investing heavily in Australia, in Saipan, while others have been buying in Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, Singapore, Korea, and elsewhere. These are the ones who believe the so-called invisible hand of the market runs everything. These are the ones reacting to the unrelenting anti-corruption campaign that is diverting the Chinese punters from the Macau tables.
Shenzhen Daily underlines the fact that President Xi has warned that corruption threatens the survival of the Party. Meanwhile…letters supposedly signed by 171 “loyal party members” calling for Xi´s resignation began clicking.
So the question is how to keep Macau as an International Tourism Centre with luxury casinos and the unstoppable anti-graft campaign that is driving away rich gamblers from China.
Well, by refutation of the principle of non-contradiction.