Taiwan government to monitor British interweb gambling site

A BRITISH ONLINE gambling firm is to face opposition from the Taiwanese government as it opens an office on the island today.

The Taiwan Economic News reports unnamed officials at the Ministries of the Finance and the Interior as saying they will crack down on online gambling on the internet.

Gambling is illegal in Taiwan.

According to the newspaper, the activities of sportingbet.com will be watched closely, although it quotes an official from the firm as saying it's doing nothing illegal and is merely providing consulting services on the island.

The local office will not handle gambling money or dispense prizes, the paper adds.

Sportingbet is one of the top six British internet companies dealing in e-commerce, according to a release on its Web site.

It has a Chinese language gambling web site and claims to have 10 other language versions.