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Taiwan lifts casino ban

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-13 15:01

TAIPEI -- In hopes of boosting local economy and tourism, Taiwan's legislative body on Monday voted through a controversial bill lifting a decades-old ban on casinos, despite protests that gambling could lead to a damaging decline in public morality.

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After nearly 20 years of debate on the issue, the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) pushed through the law at a vote of 71-26 allowing offshore islands to build casinos only if they are approved by local residents in referenda.

For the referendum to pass, more than 50 percent of the valid ballots cast must support the measure, but it doesn't require that 50 percent of all eligible voters must participate in order for them to be valid.

Taiwan authority said the move would boost the income of the poor offshore islands by attracting tourists.

"It would certainly be a boost to the offshore islands' competitive edge in tourism and land development," Legislative committe member Lin Tsang-min said, referring to Penghu, the island group located in the middle of the Taiwan Strait which is the most likely venue for the first casinos. 

However, the bill's approval was not without controversy. A number of individuals, non-governmental organizations and religious people have showed their strong opposition to the bill.

Outside the legislative body, dozens of demonstrators, many of them Buddhist monks and nuns, braved chilly winds and staged a sit-in protest.

"The bill is sure to pollute the people's minds," a protester said.

Local media speculated that the world's casino giants would pour money into Penghu after they were hammered elsewhere by the global financial crisis.