"It is very difficult for the Chinese government to control because the government would need the cooperation of the Myanmar government but they have almost no control over this area run by [the] Kachin army," he said.
But China insists it is doing something.
In early 2005, with the agreement of officials in Shan state, a jungle area of Myanmar south of Kachin and also run by militias, Chinese police swept into the frontier town of Mongla, then a hub of Chinese gambling operations.
Meanwhile the number of casinos operating near China's borders in Myanmar and elsewhere dropped from 149 in 2005 to 28 last year, thanks to a crackdown that netted US$445 million in gambling related funds, China's official Xinhua news agency reported in January.
RSS