在国内外，中国已经成了高速轨道发展的代名词。昨日还是一片稻田明天就将变成工厂，高速公路或者宾馆。然而被忽略的是如此高速的经济发展，会导致同样高速的经济倒退。跨过中国边境在小国老挝内的磨丁的金城，便是很好的一个经济倒退的例子。

　　在2003年，一家在香港注册的公司同老挝政府签订了30年的可续期土地租契合同，利用中国大陆的资金和专业知识建立了1640公顷的经济特区。自此金城便被宣传为将来的一个贸易、旅游中心。建造工作迅速展开，很快一栋栋色彩柔和的建筑便矗立在了老挝北部茂密的山林中。数以千计的中国游客和企业家涌向这块飞地，吸引他们的主要原因便是赌博带来的乐趣和收益，而在国内地区，除了澳门以外，赌博是被禁止的违法行为。但如今，在一家三星级酒店内的最大的赌场却空置着无人问津，桌面的粗呢也积满了灰尘。

　　问题开始于12月份，中国的赌徒发现经营者会将其扣押以逼迫交出所欠赌债。湖北当局似乎曾出面协商释放过几位“人质”，但接着又有新的赌徒被迫扣押。中国媒体报道称：赌场通过提供免费旅游和住宿来诱惑赌徒，当他们输光时便会被控制和毒打。类似看见尸体被倒入河中的可怕经历也在老挝村民之间流传开来。

　　此后中国当局对磨丁进行了严厉的指责。在3月外交部警告中国公民到老挝赌博的危险并指责金城欺骗其跨境顾客。据说中国当局要求老挝查封赌场，就在上月赌场被如期查封，其他的小型赌场也随之关闭。如今空置的有232房间的酒店也即将被查封。

　　大多数商铺和旅馆老板也打包走人，同时离开的还有泰国的人妖表演以及妓女大军。为加大控制，中国游客签证的办理也变得更加严格。老挝的一名警察承认说：在城镇人口由最高有过的10000缩减为2000后，自己变得无事可做了。就在这个经济特区看起来似乎失败的时候，之前的建造者又使出干劲建造新的高耸的酒店和购物中心，其中密集了传统式样的塔器。

　　金城称在这个工程的第一阶段投资了1.3亿美元，其中包括境外投资。公司官员何姜（Ginger He）对此事变现出积极的态度，说道这此失败正是重新将这块飞地塑造成健全的旅游地和进出口贸易区的好机会。她指责赌场里不光彩的特许纸牌游戏的中国经营者所造成的负面影响，就像公司拥有所期待的天使投资人一样。金城宣称因为不可抗力而撤销其赌场合同。赌场投资者则希望在老挝法律之下上诉。然而何小姐指出，中国政府已经命令老挝查封了赌场，作为小兄弟老挝是不敢得罪老大哥的。

　　即便在最有利的时期，边境赌场也是一项风险很高的投资，原因是中国政府会打击外出的赌徒。缅甸的军阀在之前就吃过亏，在边境往来限制地更加严厉之后，缅甸丛林中的赌场也就随之报废了。磨丁的商人认为赌场会改变地点，建立在老挝和缅甸的其他地区。最近，澳门的一家公司就在所谓的金三角河岸建立了赌场，而那里是老挝和泰国，缅甸交接处。

　　然而金城代表的却不仅仅的是能轻易赚取的大把钞票。开发商通过带来的种种好处，来说服老挝允许中国经营这块飞地。

　　AT HOME and abroad China is a byword for fast-track development where yesterday’s paddy field is tomorrow’s factory highway or hotel. Less noticed is that such development can just as quickly go into reverse. Golden City in Boten just over the border from China in tiny Laos is a case in point.

　　When a Hong Kong-registered company signed a 30-year renewable lease with the Lao government in 2003 to set up a 1 640-hectare special economic zone built with mainland money and expertise Golden City was touted as a futuristic hub for trade and tourism. The builders promptly went to work and a cluster of pastel blocks rose amid the green hills of northern Laos. Thousands of Chinese tourists and entrepreneurs poured into the enclave drawn largely by the forbidden pleasures and profits of gambling which is illegal in China except in Macau. Today the main casino inside a three-star hotel lies abandoned its baize tables thick with dust.

　　The trouble started in December when Chinese gamblers found that the operators refused to let them leave until they had coughed up for betting losses. Officials from Hubei province apparently negotiated the release of several “hostages” but many more continued to be held against their will. Accounts in the Chinese media say that casino recruiters lured gamblers with offers of free travel and hotel rooms only to be kept captive and beaten when their credit ran out. Lao villagers swap grisly tales of corpses dumped in the river.

　　Chinese authorities have since put the boot into Boten. In March the foreign ministry warned citizens not to gamble in Laos and accused Golden City of cheating its cross-border customers. It said it had demanded that Laos close down the casino. Last month the casino duly shut and the smaller gaming halls have since gone too. The 232-room hotel which is almost empty will be next.

　　Most shop and restaurant owners have packed up and left as have the Thai transvestite show and the legions of prostitutes. Stricter visa rules for Chinese tourists have added to the squeeze. A Lao policeman who admits to having nothing to do puts the town’s dwindling population at 2 000 down from 10 000 at its peak. The enclave’s economy seems to have collapsed just as the builders hit their stride with a new high-rise hotel and a shopping centre bristling with columns in the classical style.

　　Golden City says it has pumped $130m into the project’s first phase including funds from outside investors. A company official Ginger He puts a brave face on things arguing that the slump is a chance to rebrand the enclave as a wholesome tourist destination and import-export zone. She blames the bad publicity on shady Chinese concessionaires who ran the card games in the casino—as if the company had expected angels. Golden City has since declared force majeure to revoke its contracts. Investors might wish to sue under Lao law. But Miss He points out that China had ordered Laos to close the casino. “Little brother cannot fight with big brother ” she says.

　　At the best of times cross-border casinos are risky investments since China often cracks down on outbound gamblers. Warlords in Myanmar have previously felt the consequences with gambling dens left to rot in the jungle after borders grew tighter. Business folk in Boten say the action may have moved to casinos elsewhere in Laos and Myanmar. A Macau-based company has recently completed a giant riverside casino in the so-called Golden Triangle where Laos meets Thailand and Myanmar.

　　But Golden City was supposed to represent more than just a fast buck.