{"id":144603,"date":"2020-08-11T17:42:06","date_gmt":"2020-08-12T00:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=144603"},"modified":"2020-08-24T06:25:36","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T13:25:36","slug":"trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s WeChat Ban Will Hurt US Interests in Macau: Analysts"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump has banned Chinese social messaging giant WeChat for \u201cundermining national security.\u201d But the move could have unintended consequences for American business interests in Macau, analysts say.<\/p>\n

\"Trump's
China\u2019s WeChat is the fourth-biggest social media platform in the world, with more than one billion registered users. But it is set to be banned by the Trump administration as a security threat. (Image: South China Morning Post<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

US casino operators in the world\u2019s biggest gambling hub rely on the messaging app as a crucial marketing channel to connect to potential customers on the Chinese mainland. This means LVS, Wynn Resorts, and MGM Resorts International may lose valuable business to foreign competitors who are untouched by the ban.<\/p>\n

The three US casino giants — LVS and Wynn in particular — get a prodigious chunk of their overall gaming revenue from their Macau operations, the vast majority of which is generated by visitors from mainland China.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Communication Lockdown <\/strong><\/h2>\n

On August 6, Trump issued an executive order that will prohibit US citizens and companies from conducting business transactions via WeChat after September 20.<\/p>\n

With 1.2 billion users — most of whom are in China — WeChat is the fourth-biggest social media platform in the world.<\/p>\n

As well as instant messaging, it\u2019s used to pay bills, consume news media, play games, and listen to music. Third-party developers from Starbucks and Amazon to the Wynn Macau all have their own mini-apps on the platform.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cProbably 95 percent of Macau\u2019s gaming patrons are mainland Chinese. How do you communicate with them? WeChat,\u201d said Carlos Lobo, a Macau-based lawyer at Weir and Associates, to The South China Morning Post<\/em> Tuesday.<\/p>\n

This problem applies across the board to any US company in China: how can their local Chinese teams communicate with their bosses without WeChat?\u201d <\/strong>he added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe mainland Chinese tourists will prefer to go to Melco, Studio City, SJM or Galaxy rather than Sands, MGM, or Wynn. This has a toxic effect on competition that ultimately has a negative impact on the US casino operators.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is WeChat a Security Threat?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It is unclear whether WeChat represents a genuine threat to US security, or whether it is simply a pawn in the ongoing trade war between America and China.<\/p>\n

Beijing has for several years been blocking US social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, Instagram, and YouTube, as part of its \u201cGreat Firewall\u201d policy of internet censorship. And, according to the BBC, the WeChat platform appears to be a \u201ckey instrument of China\u2019s internal surveillance apparatus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to his death, Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang warned colleagues via WeChat about a wave of strange acute pneumonia cases he had observed in the city. He was silenced by authorities for \u201cspreading false comments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Li died from COVID-19 on February 13, age just 33, as Beijing continued to censor information about the disease that killed him on the WeChat platform.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Chinese Americans use the app to communicate with relatives in China, and there are fears it’s all too easy for Beijing to gather information on American citizens.<\/p>\n

But it is also expedient for America to \u201cdecouple\u201d itself from Chinese technology and to make the US economy less intertwined with China\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Amid talk of a new “Cold War,” Washington is also eager to stop the Chinese tech revolution in its tracks, even if it’s at the expense of the US businesses that wish to engage with the Chinese market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump has banned Chinese social messaging giant WeChat for \u201cundermining national security.\u201d But the move could have unintended consequences for American business interests in Macau, analysts say. US casino operators in the world\u2019s biggest gambling hub rely on the messaging app as a crucial marketing channel to connect to potential customers on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":144604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,16693],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s WeChat Ban Will Hurt US Interests in Macau: Analysts - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Donald Trump has banned Chinese social messaging giant WeChat for \u201cundermining national security.\u201d But the move could have unintended\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump\u2019s WeChat Ban Will Hurt US Interests in Macau: Analysts - Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Donald Trump has banned Chinese social messaging giant WeChat for \u201cundermining national security.\u201d But the move could have unintended\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-12T00:42:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-24T13:25:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/wechat.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"757\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"501\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/\",\"name\":\"Trump\u2019s WeChat Ban Will Hurt US Interests in Macau: Analysts - Casino.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/wechat.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-12T00:42:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-24T13:25:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"President Donald Trump has banned Chinese social messaging giant WeChat for \u201cundermining national security.\u201d But the move could have unintended\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/wechat.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/wechat.jpg\",\"width\":757,\"height\":501,\"caption\":\"China\u2019s WeChat is the fourth biggest social media platform in the world with over one billion registered users, but it is set to be banned by the Trump administration as a security threat. (Image: South China Morning Post)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Politics\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/politics\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Trump\u2019s WeChat Ban Will Hurt US Interests in Macau: Analysts\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump\u2019s WeChat Ban Will Hurt US Interests in Macau: Analysts - Casino.org","description":"President Donald Trump has banned Chinese social messaging giant WeChat for \u201cundermining national security.\u201d But the move could have unintended","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump\u2019s WeChat Ban Will Hurt US Interests in Macau: Analysts - Casino.org","og_description":"President Donald Trump has banned Chinese social messaging giant WeChat for \u201cundermining national security.\u201d But the move could have unintended","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2020-08-12T00:42:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-08-24T13:25:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":757,"height":501,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/wechat.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/","name":"Trump\u2019s WeChat Ban Will Hurt US Interests in Macau: Analysts - Casino.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/wechat.jpg","datePublished":"2020-08-12T00:42:06+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-24T13:25:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"President Donald Trump has banned Chinese social messaging giant WeChat for \u201cundermining national security.\u201d But the move could have unintended","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/wechat.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/wechat.jpg","width":757,"height":501,"caption":"China\u2019s WeChat is the fourth biggest social media platform in the world with over one billion registered users, but it is set to be banned by the Trump administration as a security threat. (Image: South China Morning Post)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trumps-wechat-ban-will-hurt-us-interests-in-macau-analysts\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Politics","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/politics\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Trump\u2019s WeChat Ban Will Hurt US Interests in Macau: Analysts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144603"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}