Developers of a Penghu resort project said yesterday that media speculation over government support for legalized gambling on the island may destroy the plan before it starts.
"The media reports were totally untrue. President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) would not say he agreed to a foreign company investing in the Penghu Casino Resort," Chang Jen-hsu (張仁旭), marketing and planning manager of the Penghu Bay Development Co, told the Taipei Times by phone yesterday.
Chang said the news was not good for business. "The negative response stirred up by the media may scare off some potential investor participation in this project," he said.
Media reports nationwide yesterday said that Chen was in favor of an alliance between the US-based Las Vegas Sands Inc and Penghu Bay Development to construct a resort hotel and casino complex on Penghu. Chen met Las Vegas Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson last October.
The Presidential Office denied yesterday that Chen had lent his support to legalized gambling on Penghu. The project's developers acknowledged that while their present plans do include an optional casino plan, currently they are only authorized to construct a hotel in Paisha (白沙) township in Penghu.
That plan is still in an early stage as the two key partners -- the Las Vegas Sands and Penghu Bay Development Company -- have thus far only discussed the terms of a proposed memorandum of understanding, Chang said.
"We were approved by Penghu County Government on March 2 for the construction of a 320-room hotel there. Construction of the NT$4.5 billion hotel project is expected to begin soon and will include an indoor and outdoor water park and shopping arcade by 2003," Chang said.
The five-star complex would face virtually no competition, as the island group has 17 hotels that together offer just 915 rooms. None of these are even of three-star quality.
As for the casino portion of the project, it is expected to be completed by 2006 at a cost of NT$9 billion -- subject to government approval, Chang said.
The four-phase project is expected to be completed in 2013 and would offer 2,320 rooms at a total cost of nearly NT$22 billion.
The resort hotel and casino are only phases one and two.
Chang predicted the complex -- if completed as planned -- would provide 2,500 jobs for Penghu residents.
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
RSS