第16期 2012年5月/6月 |
#16MAY/JUN2012
Way back in 1992, Mr Fiedler co-founded
theLaogaiResearchFoundation,anorganization
thatdescribed itself as “devoted to studying the
forced labor camp system in China”. When the
Foundation’s ExecutiveDirector, HarryWu, was
detained in China in 1995, Fiedler coordinated
thecampaign towinhis release.
Sincethen,MrFiedlerhascreatedaveritable
cottage industry in relation tohis “expert status”
onall thingsChina.Hehasservedon,or testified
to,a litanyof task forces,assemblies,committees,
sub-committees, studygroups and conferences
onChina, nodoubtmostlyat theexpenseof the
USpublicpurseorhisunionmembers.
Here is abrief lookat just a fewof the thingsMr
Fiedlerhasdone inhis time:
Supported revocation of “Most Favored
•
Nation”status forChina,citingmultiplehuman
rights violations including the harvesting of
prisoners’ organsand religiouspersecution.
CalledtheChinesegovernment“internationally
•
irresponsible” for claimed missile sales to
Pakistan and conducting military exercises
near Taiwan.
Said China should be punished for their
•
non-compliance with a Memorandum of
Understanding between the two countries
regarding forced labor.
ComplainedaboutChina’sPeople’sLiberation
•
Army conductingbusiness in theUS. He said,
“Allowing Chinesemilitary companies to do
business in theUnitedStates is ridiculousasa
matterofpolicy. It istantamounttosubsidizing
themodernizationof theChinesemilitary.”
DescribedChinaas“asupernationalistmilitary
•
andpolitical giant.”
Somemore “pearlsofwisdom”directly from the
mouthofMr Fiedler:
“The reality [is] that the communist party
•
still holds the reins of power inChina and…
will continue to oppress the people of China
without fearof consequence.”
“Chinahasadismal recordofcompliancewith
•
bilateral and international agreements.”
“When the government believes a protest
•
is getting out of hand or must be stopped
it uses the People’s Armed Police. This is a
forceof some1.4million,whosegrowth from
300,000 in theearly1980smirrors remarkably
the Party’s increasing concern with the
impact of economic change… The Chinese
government … is prepared to use force to
suppressworkers.”
“RelationsbetweenthePRCandtheUSshould
•
not be strained by [CasinoLeaks Macau’s]
stories, mostly because there are so many
thingsalreadystraining relationsbetween the
twocountries.”
Are these thewordsyouwouldexpect from
amemberofacommissionresponsible forpolicy
regarding the security relationshipbetween the
twomost powerful nations on earth? It sounds
tome like yet another case of the US trying to
police theworld.
Democratand formerhousespeakerNancy
Pelosi,whoappointedFiedler tohiscurrent role,
hasalsocriticizedChina, callingonall “freedom-
lovingpeople”todenounceChina for itsposition
on Tibet, and on the Chinese government to
“respect the fundamental freedoms of all the
people inChina”.
EvenUSPresidentBarackObamamentioned
China no less than five times in this year’s State
of the Union address, referring to China’s
“unfair trade practices” and her growing global
ascendancy. Sourgrapes, anyone?
It’s no secret that at least two of themen
behind the “new Macau”, Steve Wynn and
SheldonAdelson, arenotObama’sgreatest fans.
Mr Adelson and his wife even donated US$10
milliontoNewtGingrich’sRepublicanPresidential
nomination campaign. Throwing somemud at
theMacaugaming industrymight indirectly rub
off on theRepublicans.
Fiedler already has tasted power from
this kind of muckraking. He formerly ran a
website targeting Ms Pansy Ho, who in 2009
was deemed an “unsuitable” business partner
forMGMbyNew Jerseygaming regulators. This
forced MGM to make an “us or them” choice
between their Atlantic City casino operations
and their MGMMacau joint venture with Ho.
Unsurprisingly to everyone, except perhaps
the inward-looking Americans, MGM chose
the vastly more lucrative Macau market, and
abandonedNew Jersey.
If Fiedler’s CasinoLeaks Macau website
forces Nevada casino licensees tomake similar
“usorthem”choicesbetweentheirUSandMacau
properties,someofhisunionmembers inNevada
might find themselves out of work! Intelligence
agencies refer to these types of unintended
consequencesas “blowback”, and it’ssomething
theUShasbeencreating for itself for years.
Judgment call: this China-bashing from a
decades-long career China-basher is the most
plausible reason yet to explain the existence of
CasinoLeaksMacau.
TheMacau gaming industry response
WhileMr Fiedler and CasinoLeaks Macau have
beenmakinga lotofnoise, theresponse fromthe
Macaugaming industryhas ranged frommuted
to non-existent. Since founding its Facebook
pageonFebruary17thisyear,CasinoLeaksMacau
hasgarneredamere37“likes”,despite the IUOE’s
claimed400,000members.
DICJ supremo Mr Neves has described
the liberalization of Macau’s gaming industry
in 2002 as a success despite the criticism from
overseas. Responding to CasinoLeaksMacau, a
DICJspokesmansaid, “Wewillnotbe responding
specifically to any of the matters raised by
CasinoLeaks Macau. It has no standing to raise
issues regarding theoperationofMacau’scasino
regulatory system, and itsmotives for doing so
arequestionable.”
A very senior figure at one of Macau’s
most powerful junkets told me, “much of the
information is way out of date, some of it goes
back to the ’90sand isaboutpeople thathaven’t
hadanything todowithMacau formanyyears.”
He said he has had a brief look at the site, but
hedidn’t think the junkets as awholehad taken
muchnoticeof it.
「澳门娱乐场解密」：我们的分析
CasinoLeaksMacau:Ouranalysis
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