要求當局撤回法案
〔編譯盧永山／綜合報導〕澳門昨天出現主權轉移以來最大保障高層官員福利的法令，被認為是「自肥」之舉。澳門立法會將於二十七日表決通過「候任、現任及離任行政長官及主要官員的保障制度」法案，當中明列行政長官（特首）及主要官員離職後，仍可領取長俸及每月發放補貼，特首在任期間更可獲得刑事豁免權。
澳門靠觀光博弈事業稅收大增，帶來人潮卻使物價、房價飆漲，薪資調漲幅度根本追不上，民眾苦不堪言。 （彭博）
香港商業電台引述主辦團體指出，這是澳門主權轉移以來最大規模的遊行，顯示民怨已到達臨界點，要求政府馬上撤回法案。
連7年發錢 追不上物價房價
另外，澳門特區政府日前公布「二○一四年度現金分享計畫」，每名澳門永久性居民將可獲得九千元澳門幣（以下同，約新台幣三．四萬元）現金，非永久性居民可獲得五千四百元現金，是連續第七年發錢。但澳門近年來物價及房價節節上漲，澳門民眾對於政府發錢，多半抱持著聊勝於無的態度，抱怨這點錢根本追不上房價飛漲。
澳門政府是在二○○八年開始這項現金分享計畫，當時永久性居民可領到五千元，非永久性居民可領到三千元；之後逐年上升，受惠人數已超過六十一萬人次。
澳門賭業無懼中國反腐
中國反腐運動似乎未能阻斷賭客們進入澳門賭場，澳門博彩業今年前四月總營收增長14%，酒店入住率達95%，且賭桌平均最低押註額在過去12個月翻了一番。2009年11月23日10:22
China Money Leaks Offshore
2009年11月23日10:22
中國大陸資金流向海外
香港飆升的房地產價格和澳門興旺發達的賭場生意都生動體現出﹐儘管北京實施了嚴格的資本控制﹐但中國大陸資金仍在大規模外流﹐並在沖擊著香港和澳門這兩個中國重要的離岸市場。
雖 然香港經濟只是剛剛從衰退中復蘇﹐但香港的住房價格今年已經上漲了約30%。而在珠江口的另一邊﹐澳門的博彩業官員們正在討論放慢當地博彩業增長的措施﹐ 此前澳門這一業務的收入連續三個月達到創紀錄水平﹐其中8月份和10月份的水平更是創出歷史新高。澳門10月份的博彩業收入為15.8億美元﹐大約是美國 內華達州博彩業同期收入的兩倍。
是誰帶來的這場盛宴不是什麼秘密﹐他們是那些現金充裕的中國大陸人﹐這些人急於讓手中的錢去生錢。
Getty Images
香港的一片建築工地
理論上說﹐中國的資本控制機制會對進出中國大陸的資金量進行監管﹐監管對象也包括從大陸進入香港和澳門這兩個中國特別行政區的資金。但據專家們說﹐通過離岸銀行帳戶和眾多其他非官方渠道﹐資金實際上可以在中國大陸和海外間自由往來。
安 理國際律師事務所(Allen & Overy LLP)駐北京的律師姜穎(Jane Jiang)說﹐雖然北京會依賴銀行對離岸資金轉移進行監督﹐但卻有數不清的方式來繞開這些監督措施﹐從偽造合同到直接用手提箱將錢帶到香港﹐不一而足。 姜穎擅長辦理與中國外匯控制有關的案子。
由於中國大陸居民每人每年有50,000美元的換匯額度﹐他們可以將換取的外匯用於出國旅遊或向海外網站網購商品﹐將家庭成員的換匯額度集中在一起使用是另一條繞過資本控制措施的途徑。
那些有海外業務或在香港有銀行帳戶的企業主甚至可以更容易地使用海外資金﹐因為這些資金是不受北京監管部門控制的。姜穎說﹐簡而言之﹐“有無限的可能性”。
誠然﹐由於全球資本都在競相從中國經濟的強勁反彈中獲利﹐以及許多投資者都把寶押在人民幣升值上﹐流入中國大陸的資金要比流出的資金多得多。但也存在促使資金流出中國大陸的因素。
香港政府的一項移民和投資計劃一定程度上鼓勵了大陸資金流入香港。根據這項計劃﹐已經享有海外居留權的中國公民﹐在向香港投資650萬港元(約合839,000美元)後﹐就可移居香港。
這 部分資金很多投向了房地產。港府數據顯示﹐自從該計劃6年前實施以來﹐截至9月底﹐已有3,907名中國大陸人獲準投資移民香港﹐這給香港的房地產市場總 計帶來了13.4億美元資金。僅今年一年﹐那些成功申請到香港居民身份的中國大陸人就將4.773億美元帶入了香港房地產市場。
美聯移民 顧問有限公司(Midland Immigration Consultancy Ltd.)的行政總裁吉安(Thomas Kut)說﹐許多中國大陸人想送子女來香港上學﹐他們將這座城市看作是一扇通向外部世界的窗口。他說﹐香港與大陸很近﹐與大陸同處一個時區﹐這裡的語言容 易學習﹐移民香港的大陸人可以隨時往返香港與大陸之間。美聯移民顧問有限公司是香港最大房地產中介機構之一美聯集團的子公司。
在10月初的中國大陸國慶長假中﹐吉安帶著大約40名大陸人來到香港火炭區一座新豪華公寓﹐這裡離香港和大陸邊界不遠。
一名姓盛（音）的購房者說﹐我不怕現在購買。她是廣州的出口商人﹐看上了一套佔地2,000平方英尺、能夠俯瞰香港一個賽馬場的公寓。
高力國際(Colliers International)駐上海地產經紀人Hing-yin Lee說﹐雖然存在資本控制﹐但香港的投資移民政策實際上為中國大陸居民在海外購買地產提供了一條合法渠道。
湧入香港和澳門的中國大陸資金潮給政策決定者帶來了挑戰。由於擔心澳門博彩業收入增長過於迅猛﹐中國大陸官員收緊了大陸遊客赴澳門賭場旅遊的簽證政策。近年來﹐澳門本地對大陸居民推高房價的抵觸情緒已經迫使澳門政府取消了原先的“投資移民“計劃。
一些香港人擔心﹐大陸資金正在推動香港房價超過他們的承受範圍。
香港立法會議員劉慧卿說﹐富裕的大陸人正在湧入香港﹐這帶來了很大影響。香港如此之小﹐大陸卻這麼龐大。她上個月參加了一個抗議房價飆升的遊行。劉慧卿已經要求香港政府調查洗錢嫌疑。她說﹐當大陸購房者推高豪華地產價格時﹐高端市場會影響中端市場﹐帶動整體房價走高。
今年50歲的社會工作者陳賴金（音）參加了那次遊行。他說﹐香港政府應當採取採取措施﹐限制香港的住房銷售只能面向本地居民。他說﹐如此多的資金從外面湧入香港﹐這種狀況正在擾亂我們的市場。
其中一些資金正在進一步湧向國外。地產中介Asterisk Realty Tokyo董事總經理Yukihiko Ito說﹐過去兩年東京和橫濱公寓市場的中國大陸買家數量急劇上升﹐很多人都是通過中國大陸旅行社過來買房的。
Yukihiko Ito說﹐購房者有時候會帶著裝滿日圓的手提箱來支付價值100萬美元公寓的購房款﹐這些購房者希望能收租金﹐同時將資金放到海外。他說﹐我們是中介機構﹐因此如果他們不說﹐我們也不會問錢從哪裡來。
一些專家認為﹐即便中國政府表面上希望將資金流動保持在可監控的渠道﹐中國政府可能實際上是鼓勵資金外流的﹐並將其視為緩解人民幣升值壓力的一個安全閥。
最近幾年﹐中國主要監管機構國家外匯管理局已經試驗了諸多允許資金更加自由流動的渠道﹐中國正在謹慎推進人民幣匯率的國際化進程﹐希望創建減壓閥以阻止資金流入和人民幣長期升值預期帶來的資產價格通貨膨脹。
2007年﹐中國政府曾允許大陸居民直接投資香港股市﹐但隨後該計劃被取消。上個月底﹐中國政府擴大了一項允許大陸民眾通過授權國內機構間接投資海外股票的計劃﹐在停批外匯額度17個月之後﹐再次批准了15億美元的外匯額度。
Jonathan Cheng
Soaring property prices in Hong Kong and booming baccarat tables in Macau offer a telling glimpse of how money is leaking out of mainland China, in defiance of Beijing's strict capital controls, and shaking up two of the country's key offshore markets.
Housing prices in Hong Kong, a city still barely recovering from recession, have risen some 30% this year. On the opposite side of the Pearl River Delta, Macau gambling officials are discussing measures to slow growth there after a trio of record-breaking months, including all-time highs in August and then October. October's revenue of US$1.58 billion is about double that of Nevada for the same period.
It is no secret who brought the party: cash-rich mainland Chinese, eager to put their money to work.
Massive stimulus spending and easy credit in China have likely added to flow of cash through under-the-table transfers, research firm GaveKal Dragonomics wrote recently in a note to clients. 'The sheer amount of 'shady money' flowing to Hong Kong and Macau is becoming slightly embarrassing for Beijing,' the note said.
Officially, China's capital-control regime regulates the amount of money flowing in and out of mainland Chinese borders, including into the Chinese special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. But in practice, money flows liberally through offshore bank accounts and a number of other nonofficial channels, experts say.
Jane Jiang, a Beijing-based lawyer for Allen & Overy LLP who specializes in issues tied to China's foreign-exchange controls, says that while Beijing relies on banks to monitor offshore money transfers, there are countless ways to get around these measures, from falsifying contracts to carrying money in suitcases to Hong Kong.
Because mainland citizens are given an annual cap of US$50,000 a year that they are allowed to convert into foreign currencies for use for a variety of things such as vacations and online purchases from overseas Web sites, pooling money from family members is another easy way to get around restrictions.
Business owners with overseas operations or Hong Kong bank accounts have even easier access to foreign capital to play with, since these are beyond the control of Beijing's regulators. In short, Ms. Jiang says: 'The possibilities are infinite.'
To be sure, far more money is flowing into China than out, as global capital races to cash in on China's robust economic rebound and as many investors bet that its currency will strengthen. But there are also incentives driving money in the other direction.
Hong Kong partly encourages the inflow of Chinese money through a government immigration and investment program. Under the program Chinese nationals who already enjoy residency rights abroad can immigrate to Hong Kong after investing 6.5 million Hong Kong dollars, or about about US$839,000, in the territory.
A lot of that money goes into property. Since the program began six years ago, 3,907 'investment immigrants' from mainland China had won approval by the end of September, plunking down a total of US$1.34 billion in the city's property market, according to government data. This year alone, US$477.3 million went into Hong Kong's property market from mainland Chinese who successfully applied for local residency.
'Many mainland Chinese want to send their children to schools in Hong Kong, and they see the city as a window to the outside world,' says Thomas Kut, the chief executive of Midland Immigration Consultancy Ltd., an arm of one of Hong Kong's biggest real-estate brokers. 'Hong Kong is close, the time zones are the same, the language is easy to learn and they can travel back and forth whenever they feel like it.'
Over China's weeklong National Day holidays in early October, Mr. Kut led about 40 mainland Chinese to a new luxury condominium in the city's Fo Tan district, not far from Hong Kong's border with China.
'I'm not afraid to buy now,' said one buyer, a Guangzhou resident who identified herself only as Ms. Sheng. Ms. Sheng, an exporter, was eyeing a 2,000-square foot apartment overlooking one of Hong Kong's horse-racing tracks.
Hong Kong's investment immigrant policy effectively opens a legitimate way for Chinese residents to buy property outside the mainland despite the capital controls, says Hing-yin Lee, a Shanghai-based property broker for Colliers International.
The tidal wave of mainland Chinese money into both Hong Kong and Macau has posed a challenge for policymakers. Fears of overly rapid growth in Macau's gambling revenue have prompted mainland Chinese officials to tighten visa policies for mainland visitors traveling to the territory's casinos. In recent years, a local backlash against mainland Chinese bidding up property prices forced Macau's government to scrap its own 'investment immigrant' program.
Some Hong Kong people fear that Chinese money is pushing local property prices beyond their reach.
'Rich mainlanders are coming in, and it has a big effect. Hong Kong is so tiny, and China is so big,' says Emily Lau, a legislator who attended a rally last month protesting soaring property prices. When mainland Chinese buyers bid up luxury home prices, 'the high end affects the mid-end of the market, and it pulls the whole thing up,' says Ms. Lau, who has asked the government to investigate allegations of money laundering.
Cheng Lai-king, a 50-year-old social worker who attended the march, said the government should look into restricting home purchases in Hong Kong to only local residents. 'There's so much money flooding into Hong Kong from outside, and it's messing with our market.'
Some of that money is flowing further afield. Yukihiko Ito, managing director of property broker Asterisk Realty Tokyo, says he has seen a sharp rise in mainland Chinese buyers in the Tokyo and Yokohama condominium market over the past two years, many of them brought in by Chinese travel agencies.
The buyers, Mr. Ito says, sometimes pay for their US$1 million condos with suitcases full of yen, hoping to collect rent while socking their money away overseas. 'We are brokers, so we don't ask where the money comes from if they don't say,' Mr. Ito says.
Some experts think that Beijing may actually be countenancing the outward flows as a safety valve against rising pressure on its own currency, even if officially the government wants to keep money flowing through channels it can monitor.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Beijing's principal regulator, has in recent years tested ways to let money flow more freely as it moves cautiously toward internationalizing its currency, creating release valves to prevent asset-price inflation amid currency inflows and expectations of the yuan's long-term appreciation.
In 2007, Beijing tinkered with letting Chinese invest directly in Hong Kong's stock market before the plan was scrapped. Late last month, Beijing expanded a program that allows ordinary Chinese to invest indirectly in overseas stocks through licensed domestic institutions, approving an additional $1.5 billion in the program's first such expansion in 17 months.
Jonathan Cheng
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