Fuel prices raised due to Saudi cut speculationsBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterGasoline and diesel prices are to rise NT$0.1 per liter this week as international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said in separate statements yesterday. CPC attributed the rise in crude oil prices to market speculations that Saudi Arabia might extend daily oil production cuts through next month, while Formosa said a sharp drop in US crude oil inventories also weighed on the global oil market during the week. Based on CPC’s floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil increased 1.07 percent from a week earlier, it said. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to increase to NT$31.2, NT$32.7 and NT$34.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said. The price of premium diesel is to rise to NT$29.3 at CPC stations and to NT$29.1 at Formosa pumps, they said.

India sends probe to the sun after moon landingAFP, SRIHARIKOTA, IndiaIndia’s space program yesterday blasted off a spacecraft toward the center of the solar system, a week after the country’s successful uncrewed moon landing. The Aditya-L1 spacecraft lifts off yesterday from the space center in Sriharikota, India. Students celebrate as they watch the livestreamed launch of the PSLV XL rocket carrying the Aditya-L1 in Kolkata, India, yesterday. “It is a challenging mission for India,” astrophysicist Somak Raychaudhury told broadcaster NDTV on Friday. Aditya-L1 would be traveling on the ISRO-designed, 320-tonne PSLV XL rocket that has been a mainstay of the Indian space program, powering earlier launches to the Earth’s moon and Mars.

Heidenheim draw with DortmundAP, BERLINNiclas Fullkrug made his Borussia Dortmund debut on Friday, but could not prevent the team squandering a two-goal lead as promoted Heidenheim fought back to draw 2-2 and claim their first point in the Bundesliga. “Two-nil down after 14 minutes and then to take a point, Heidenheim in Dortmund, it’s mega,” visiting coach Frank Schmidt said. Dortmund fans whistled at their team at fulltime, frustrated after they failed to make more of their chances in an error-strewn performance. Borussia Dortmund’s Niclas Fullkrug, front, second right, waits for a corner-kick during their Bundesliga match against Heidenheim in Dortmund, Germany, on Friday. Photo: AFPIt was Dortmund’s second consecutive draw after they opened with a fortunate win over Cologne.

EDITORIAL: Gou is not a liar-in-trainingHon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) on Monday announced that he will run in next year’s presidential election as an independent candidate, pledging to bring 50 years of peace to Taiwan, double the nation’s GDP growth rate and bring prosperity to the public. Touting finance and business management chops, Gou said the era of “entrepreneurs’ rule” has come and only he has the skills needed in a future president of Taiwan. He also called for unity among “anti-green coalition” opposition party candidates to remove the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) from power. As a political freshman, there are many aspects I still need to learn,” he wrote on Facebook on Friday. Gou also demonstrated his arrogance towards the process in a news conference on Monday.

Dell, HP, Foxconn apply for India production aidBloombergSome of the world’s biggest tech companies, including Dell Technologies Inc, HP Inc and Apple Inc supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), have applied for state aid to manufacture laptops in India. Under Modi’s plan, companies are entitled to cash back of almost 5 percent of factory prices of finished products. The Indian government is trying to replicate the success of incentives it introduced in 2020 to jump-start the local assembly of smartphones. Companies could begin production under the plan by early next year, he added. Apple has yet to apply for incentives to locally assemble its MacBook laptops and iPad tablets, Indian government officials said.

Central bank governor among top eightCNA, with staff writerCentral bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) has earned the fourth “A” grade of his career, in an annual report issued by the New York-based Global Finance magazine. In the Central Banker Report Cards 2023 released by Global Finance overnight, Yang was listed among eight central bankers in the world who received an “A” grade, the magazine said in a statement. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-long attends a media briefing in Taipei on July 29. Photo: Chen Mei-ying, Taipei TimesThis year’s Central Banker Report Cards, published annually by Global Finance since 1994, graded the central bank governors of 101 key countries, territories and districts in the world, including the EU, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the Bank of Central African States and the Central Bank of West African States. Yang, who has been working at Taiwan’s central bank since 1989 and became its governor in 2018, received an “A” grade in the annual central banker report in 2019, 2020 and 2022, and an “A-” in 2021.

Interestingly, some Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politicians had a knee-jerk reaction to Hsieh’s post about the quality of these hot springs. However, these KMT politicians have made two kinds of mistakes, namely word substitution and self-contradiction. Firstly, Hsieh’s post was about hot springs and made no mention of Fukushima at all, yet his critics are determined to conflate these two issues. If so, why is no KMT politician willing to live next door to a nuclear power station? Unfortunately, given an opportunity to teach the public a thing or two about science, these KMT politicians prefer to vilify a particular person based on their own prejudices.

Property presales could exceed NT$200 billion in fallBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterPresale projects and new houses for sale in the coming fall sales season could exceed NT$200 billion (US$6.28 billion) in northern Taiwan, representing a 16.6 percent increase from the same time last year, as developers seek to cash in on preferential lending terms for first-home buyers, My Housing Monthly (住展雜誌) said yesterday. The volume might hit NT$212.2 billion during this fall season, which would be the second highest in eight years, despite recent bans on transfers of presale house purchase agreements and an ongoing economic slowdown, it said. New Taipei City ranks second with NT$65.6 billion worth of new housing, it said, pointing out that Sanchong District (三重) alone underpins 60 percent, or about NT$40 billion. Keelung and Yilan would have NT$1.51 billion and NT$495 million of new housing aimed at local residents, it said. The fall season starts on Sept. 28 and lasts through October.

Minister in good wishes to exchange studentsBy Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff reporterMinister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) presented a national flag to 40 students as they are to embark on a 10-day trip to Saint Lucia tomorrow as part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (MOFA) International Youth Ambassador Exchange Program. Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu, center wearing suit, yesterday poses for a photograph with Taiwanese students headed to Saint Lucia for 10 days on an exchange visit. He thanked the program for enhancing the people-to-people relationship between Taiwan and Saint Lucia, adding that the youth ambassadors would be warmly welcomed by locals. Tourism and agriculture are key industries in Saint Lucia, and Taiwan’s technical missions have been assisting locals in planting various crops, it said. The youth ambassadors are to share their trip on the program’s Facebook page, it added.

EDITORIAL: China’s information blockadeFacing a seventh consecutive monthly increase in the youth unemployment rate, the Chinese government on Aug. 15 announced that it would suspend publication of the figures. Chinese academics even estimated that the actual unemployment rate was 46 percent, because young people in rural townships had not been surveyed. Since 2017, China has also stopped sharing its fertility rate data. By covering up unpleasant statistics, Beijing intends to blind its disillusioned citizens and pacify discontented young Chinese, especially as such information could be considered a threat to its rule. The Chinese government has even removed several prominent writers’ social media posts on the country’s unemployment rate or stock market.

Raimondo urges US, PRC to ‘step up’ on global issuesAFP, BEIJINGUS Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo yesterday met with China’s premier, calling for Beijing and Washington to work together to solve issues of global concern. Yesterday she held another round of talks with Chinese officials, meeting Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強) to stress the importance of open communication between the two powers. US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, left, shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Qiang before their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday. Raimondo also reiterated the US position that it is not seeking to decouple its economy from China’s. Earlier yesterday, Raimondo met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), describing the US-China commercial relationship as “one of the most consequential” in the world.

US may approve JASSM sale: officialBy Lo Tien-pin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe US is likely to approve the sale of Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSMs) to Taiwan by the end of this year for use by its Lockheed Martin F-16Vs, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark hours after the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency approved the export of 50 JASSMs to Japan for US$104 million. The ministry in January announced plans to spend NT$4.51 billion to acquire long-range precision weapons for the air force’s F-16 fleet. According to other sources in the military, the long-range precision weapons could be 100km and 380km-range JASSMs, the AGM-84H Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response and the glide bomb AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon. The Legislative Yuan is scheduled to discuss the defense budget with ministry officials this week.

Fighters seek to restore Brazil’s MMA dominationAFP, SAO PAULO, BrazilSelf-described “nerd” Caio Borralho quit his chemical engineering studies to become a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, part of a new generation looking to reinvigorate the sport in Brazil, home of legendary champions. Brazilian UFC middleweight fighter Caio Borralho takes a break during training at an academy in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Aug. 9. Other Brazilian fighters such as former champions Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira and Alex Pereira are also on campaigns to restore the country’s dominance. Now they’re native-born MMA fighters.”Brazil has the second-most UFC fighters of any country, and is its second-largest market, after the US, Galetti said. MMA has become a lucrative business for numerous Brazilian fighters, some of whom have become superstars on the level of Brazil soccer star Neymar.

Taipei calls on Beijing to stop military harassmentINCURSIONS: More than 20 PLA warplanes and warships were detected around Taiwan within a 24-hour period, undermining regional security, the defense ministry saidAgenciesTaiwan yesterday urged China to stop “military harassment” that risked damaging regional security after it said it detected 24 Chinese warplanes near the country. “The People’s Liberation Army’s [PLA] continuous military harassment in the region could lead to a sharp escalation of tensions and worsening of regional security,” the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement. “We urge Beijing to take responsibility and immediately cease all unilateral actions that undermine regional stability,” it said. A graphic shows the flight path of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s BZK-005 uncrewed aerial vehicle from 6am on Monday to 6am yesterday. The latest Chinese mission happened the same day Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) arrived in Shanghai for annual city-to-city talks.

Taipei charges 31 in connection to im.B caseStaff writer, with CNAProsecutors yesterday said that they have indicted 31 people in connection with the collapse of NT$9 billion (US$282.27 million) peer-to-peer lending platform im.B. Five of the 31 had been detained, including Tseng Kuo-wei (曾國緯) and Chang Shu-fen (張淑芬), the couple who founded im.B in 2015, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. Criminal Investigation Bureau agents escort Tseng Kuo-wei, center, the founder of peer-to-peer lending platform im.B, in Taoyuan on May 4. Entertainer Sheng Chu-ju (盛竹如), who appeared in advertisements promoting im.B, was not indicted due to a lack of evidence, prosecutors said. A Criminal Investigation Bureau official accused of accepting commissions from im.B would not face criminal charges, prosecutors added.