In a referendum on over the weekend, 56% of Matsu's 3,162 eligible voters cast their ballots in favor of allowing a casino on the island, opening the door to a $2-billion proposal that includes upgrades of the island's ports and airports, an abundance of job opportunities - and monthly stipends of up to NT$80,000 ($2,670) for all people registered as Matsu residents at the time of the referendum.

The developer, Weidner Resorts, has vowed to turn the underdeveloped and tightly military-controlled archipelago into the 'Mediterranean of Asia,' complete with five-star hotels, restaurants staffed by celebrity chefs, entertainment venues, high-end shopping centers and, of course, casinos.

Weidner has also said it plans to build a university on the island and establish a welfare fund for locals.

Voting in favor of the casino might have been an act of sheer desperation on the part of Matsu residents who feel neglected by the central government, said Anita Chen, a lobbyist for the gaming site. '[Matsu residents] see it as a tool to get the infrastructure facilities they needed but couldn't get [from the government]. Deep down, people in Matsu have doubts as to whether this will actually happen,' Ms. Chen said, noting many of her contacts in Matsu supported the initiative because they felt they had nothing to lose.

Ho Jung-shin, a professor of journalism at National Taiwan University, said in an editorial published in the China Times that the estimated yearly tax revenues of NT$15.5 billion after five years is tempting and alluring, but he cautioned that those projections are based on the risky assumption that China would allowe its gamblers to come to Matsu uninterrupted for years to come.

Cross-strait ties have improved significantly since Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, a proponent of increased engagement with Beijing, was elected in 2008. As a good-will gesture, China in the same year lifted a ban on tourists coming to Taiwan. Roughly 1.8 million Chinese citizens visited Taiwan in 2011, making them the largest group of foreign tourists to island, according to Tourism Bureau statistics.

However, Taiwan's growing economic dependency on China is also worrisome to many because Beijing could turn off the tourist tap at will - as it did for a few months after September 2009, when the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung hosted the Dalai Lama over Beijing's objections.

Others have wondered whether Matsu would be able to compete against Macau, a gambling haven that already has a steady stream of clients from China, and expressed worries about crime and other social problems typically associated with gambling.

Such concerns still matter because, in order for a casino to be built on Matsu, Taiwan first has to pass the Gambling Act, a bill currently in draft form that would legalize gambling under certain circumstances.

William Bryson, an attorney at Jones Day who has been working on the draft legislation for the past two decades, argues that stringent licensing process put in place by the Nevada Gaming Commission have made the global gaming industry highly self-regulated. As long as the gambling legislation adopts the strictest provisions, he says, it won't be hard for Taiwan 'to keep the bad guys out and the good guys in.'

Calling the passage of the referendum on Matsu 'a paradigm shift,' Mr. Bryson predicted the vote would 'highly accelerate' the legislative process and even rekindle casino operators' interests in other Taiwanese islets that faded after a similar referendum flopped in Penghu in 2009.

The supporters of the Gambling Act are hoping the draft will be put in front of the legislature by the end of the year. But despite saying it respects the will of the Matsu people, the opposition Democratic Progressive Party has nevertheless promised to oppose the bill, which means legalized gambling in Taiwan could remain a distant possibility for some time.