matches as a "service to the population". Macau has finalized the issue of additional gambling licences just before this book goes to print.

CHINA - Last fall, after China clinched its first ever World Cup finals berth, the country inaugurated a new weekly soccer lottery "guessing game" in which buyers of two yuan (24 U.S. cents) tickets guess the outcomes of 13 European soccer matches. The soccer lottery is the closest China has come to legalise gambling. It is partly aimed at curbing widespread illegal gambling and raising funds for sports development. The state-run China daily has called the system a "warm-up" for betting on the Chinese professional league expected in 2002.

TAIWAN - No forms of gambling are allowed other than the government run lottery. Soccer is less popular than in other parts of Asia because of the island's ties with the United States - baseball and basketball are the top spectator sports.