Modern day China is traditionally thought of as a country where the prevailing legal principle is that you’re innocent until proven Chinese. But perhaps there’s a new chairman in town. The country’s authorities have decided to clarify the laws surrounding online gambling, presumably so people will know in advance the exact number of riflemen that will make up your firing squad, and which rich Western medical tourist will get your kidneys.
For non-shooting offenses, the penalties are as follows: up to three years in jail (plus fines) for anyone who starts up or operates a gambling website; starts up a gambling website and allows others to operate it; acts as an agent for a gambling website, or shares profits with gambling websites.
In serious cases, the sentence can be three to 10 years in jail (plus fines). “Serious” means your total commissions exceed 30K yuan; total handle exceeds 300K yuan; you allowed others to earn ‘an illegal income’ of 30K yuan, or shared profits of a site exceeding 30K yuan. Anyone who recruits agents to take bets for sites, or solicits minors to place bets will be charged under the ‘serious’ crimes category.
Oh, and the people who run the casinos in Macau and the racetracks in Hong Kong will be charged with… nothing. Just in case you were wondering.
