Ko Wen-je’s strategy is panning out well for himBy Niu Tse-hsun 鈕則勳The public wants to know whether Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) plans to withdraw from next year’s presidential election. On Aug. 11, Ko declared that he would remain the TPP presidential candidate until the end of the race. This strategy has confined the influence of Hon Hai Technology Group founder Terry Gou (郭台銘), overpowered Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Hou You-yi (侯友宜) and lifted TPP morale. It is common knowledge that Gou wants to collaborate with Ko, as he had once suggested that Ko should be his deputy. If Ko’s strategy works, Gou would lose his status and become marginalized.

The Liberty Times Editorial: Aso visit and security concernsFormer Japanese prime minister Taro Aso, who attaches great importance to Japan’s partnership with Taiwan, paid a visit to Taiwan last week. Japan, like Taiwan, sees the main threat to its national security as originating from the expansionism of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) authoritarian regime. Since the 2019 edition, China has risen to the top of Japan’s security concerns to become the most serious threat. Just as Aso remarked in his speech while visiting Taiwan, Japan and Taiwan are partners who must ride out this storm together. They should make it clear that they will work hand in hand with Japan in response to this great security threat.

Bureau aims for 6 million tourist arrivals this yearPOSITIVE: From January to June, the number of visitors from nations such as South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia equalled or beat pre-COVID-19 figuresStaff writer, with CNAThe Tourism Bureau has set a target of 6 million tourist arrivals this year, adding that tourism statistics from January to June suggest the nation is likely to reach the goal. Visitors from nations such as Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam were either on par with or exceeded pre-COVID-19 numbers over the same period, Chou said. Photo: CNAJapanese visitors are also returning, and the European and US markets are also performing relatively well, he saidThe No. 1 source of visitors from January to June were from Hong Kong and Macau, followed by Japan and South Korea in second and third place respectively, the bureau said. To boost tourism in the post-COVID-19 era, travel packages are also being designed to help operators in Taiwan’s tourism industry, the bureau said.

Lost military equipment highlights issues: reportLACKING OVERSIGHT: Major discrepancies were found between inventory and accounting records, and no one has been held accountable, the National Audit Office said Incidents of military equipment going missing this year demonstrate a lack of strict management and structure in the Ministry of National Defense, the National Audit Office said in its Central Government Budget Audit Report. A handgun and other components were reported missing from the navy’s inventory in March, followed by bullets and other weapons that were allegedly acquired by gangsters in the same month, said the report, which was released on July 27. The management unit failed to check and take inventory during the process of maintaining, packing, transferring, storing and distributing ordnance, it said. Such incidents have taken days to be reportedBy Wu Che-yu

Kane came on as a 64th-minute substitute with Bayern already trailing 2-0. Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-jae, left, and Harry Kane react after their DFL Supercup match against RB Leipzig at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, on Saturday. Bayern fans had lined up hours before kickoff to get their “Kane 9” shirts printed at the club store. Kane, 30, has moved to Bayern after two decades at Tottenham where he was constantly thwarted in his bid for trophies. “It’s been a long process, but now we’re all the happier that Harry Kane will be wearing the Bayern Munich shirt with immediate effect,” Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen said.

Taiwan needs nuclear energy, Ko saysStaff writer, with CNATaiwan should not phase out nuclear energy, which is essential to the nation’s bid to boosting the share of renewable energy in its energy mix and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday. This problem can be remedied by greatly boosting the percentage of renewables among Taiwan’s energy sources and pushing back the time line to phase out nuclear energy, Ko said. The Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District is pictured in an undated photograph. Following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Taiwan that same year ordered a safety inspection of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant. Achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 is a global trend, and many businesses have joined the RE100 initiative to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, Ko said.

China leverages dangerous secretsBy Brahma ChellaneyChina notoriously has the world’s largest navy and coast guard — the result of a 10-fold increase in military spending since 1995 — which it uses to advance its pugnacious revisionism. Today, China is building a naval base in Cambodia, which has leased to Beijing one-fifth of its coastline and some islets. China said it has invested in the base, but only Cambodia’s navy would have access to it. Opacity has also been a defining feature of the lending binge that has made China the world’s largest sovereign creditor to developing countries. That is why, barring a major strategic blunder by Xi, China’s salami-slicing expansionism is likely to persist.

EDITORIAL: Disaster response and propagandaTyphoon Doksuri hit China’s southeastern provinces late last month and made its way north to Hebei Province. Chinese state media on Friday said at least 29 people had died, while 16 were missing and more than 1.75 million people had been relocated. While the floods in Taiwan and China occurred just a few days apart, people from both countries have posted online about the stark differences in disaster response measures. From Saturday last week, Chinese state media started publishing long propaganda reports touting Xi’s “strong and powerful” response to the severe floods in Beijing, saying that he had given important instructions regarding flood prevention and rescue measures early last month. Taiwanese people must remain aware of Chinese propaganda in its many forms, including false disaster news, which is only expected to increase before the presidential and legislative elections in January next year.

Anecdotal examples of people using ChatGPT to help with their day-to-day work include drafting e-mails, summarizing documents and doing preliminary research. High school student Richard Erkhov is in March reflected on a screen of “Alnstein,” a robot powered with ChatGPT, in Pascal school in Nicosia, Cyprus. ‘HARMLESS TASKS’A US-based employee of Tinder said workers at the dating app used ChatGPT for “harmless tasks” like writing e-mails even though the company does not officially allow it. Reuters was not able independently to confirm whether employees at P&G were unable to use ChatGPT. Paul Lewis, chief information security officer at cyber security firm Nominet, said firms were right to be wary.

During a visit to southern Taiwan, Ko met a 35-year-old man who is making a monthly salary of about NT$40,000, he said. With a house rent of NT$5,000, the young man had intended to apply for rent subsidies, but was prevented from doing so by the landlord. Ko did not follow up the question of annual salaries, which reveals his ignorance of the salary structure of the private sector. From mayor to chairman, Ko’s Achilles’ heel has always been raising issues without offering any solutions. Ko, who is all talk and no action, is the last person anyone can count on to “save” Taiwan, least of all young people.

Indian PM lambasts opposition, survives no-confidence voteAFP, NEW DELHIThe government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday defeated a no-confidence motion in parliament after a fiery speech by Modi at the climax of a three-day debate. The no-confidence vote was dismissed by the government ahead of the vote as a headline-grabbing gimmick ahead of a general election next year. “They have been launching the same failed product again and again, but the launch fails every time.”Gandhi, 53, is the son, grandson and great-grandson of three former Indian prime ministers. Gandhi was in March sentenced to two years in prison in a cast that critics flagged as an effort to stifle political opposition. Modi’s party has been repeatedly accused by political opponents and rights groups of fomenting religious divisions for electoral purposes.

India’s Pro Panja League creates arm-wrestling starsAFP, NEW DELHIAthletes flex biceps before going hand-to-hand in a newly televised arm-wrestling league seeking to take the sporting spotlight in India with a glitzy Bollywood-style makeover. Contestants fight under bright studio lights with a cheering audience as opponents push down the other person’s arm in the Pro Panja League at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Stadium. Farheen Dehalvi of the Baroda Badshahs, left, and Kashmiri Kashyap of the Ludhiana Lions compete in an arm-wrestling bout at the Pro Panja League in New Delhi on Aug. 2. Tawheed Shaikh of Ludhiana Lions, left, and Harman Mann of the Baroda Badshahs prepare for an arm-wrestling match at the Pro Panja League in New Delhi on Aug. 2. “People watch me on TV back home and it has inspired them to go to the gyms and I tell them to come to Pro Panja.”

For several years the government has been projecting a concern with environmental protection, sustainability and energy saving, focused on photovoltaic green energy. The question is, are photovoltaic solar panels as good as what the government’s messaging suggests? Second, to install solar panels, farmland must be covered with cement, and the ground must be compacted using machines, which would substantially affects drainage. The government also deems agricultural land allocated to the green energy special zone as having “low soil fertility,” meaning that it is unsuitable for agricultural production. The development of the solar photovoltaic industry has brought about numerous disadvantages, and the government should reconsider its policy approach.

Woman dies of brain-eating amoeba: CDCBy Lin Hui-chin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writerA woman in northern Taiwan has died from a rare brain-eating amoeba, marking the nation’s first death from Naegleria fowleri in 12 years, health authorities said on Wednesday. Experts urged against public alarm, saying the amoeba is susceptible to chlorine and does not spread easily. Traces of Naegleria fowleri were found in the woman who died of meningitis, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-huai (曾淑慧) told a news briefing in Taipei. An indoor water park in New Taipei City that the woman had visited is being tested for Naegleria fowleri, she said. Hwang Kao-pin (黃高彬), deputy head of the infectious disease department at China Medical University in Taichung, yesterday told a news conference that the threat from Naegleria fowleri is limited.

Soaked books make writers weepBy Bai Zhao 白兆When Typhoon Doksuri reached northern China at the end of last month, several days of torrential rains in and around Beijing caused disastrous flooding in the region. Zhuozhou is one of China’s most important centers for book publishing, warehousing and logistics. There are specific reasons why China’s book industry has hardly any insurance. China’s paper media and publishing industry were already struggling to get by, relying on the passion of writers and artists. People can even buy hardcover books for 10 to 20 yuan and paperbacks for less than 10 yuan.