Modi condemns state ethnic violence‘MOBOCRACY’: The opposition party called on the prime minister to speak about the violence in Manipur, saying the country would never forgive him for his silenceAP, NEW DELHIIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday broke more than two months of public silence over deadly ethnic clashes in the northeast, saying that the assaults of two women as they were being paraded naked by a mob in Manipur state were unforgivable. The shell of a burnt house stands following ethnic clashes and rioting in Sugnu in the Indian state of Manipur on June 21. The clashes have persisted, despite the army’s presence in Manipur, a state of 3.7 million people tucked in the mountains on India’s border with Myanmar that is now divided in two ethnic zones. Police said the assault on the two women happened on May 4, a day after the violence started in the state. They are from the Kuki-Zo community, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, a tribal organization in Manipur, said in a statement.

Export orders shrink for 10th month in all major categoriesBy Crystal Hsu / Staff reporterExport orders last month shrank 24.9 percent from a year earlier to US$44.18 billion, as demand in all major product categories from all major trading destinations declined by double-digit percentages, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. It was the 10th consecutive month of contraction in the critical economic bellwether, boding ill for customs-cleared exports in the next one to three months. Export orders from the eurozone registered the steepest retreat of 44.2 percent, followed by a 23.6 percent plunge in US orders, the ministry found. Export orders from China and Hong Kong shed 19.7 percent year-on-year last month, as the economic recovery in the world’s second-largest economy turned out to be slower than expected, the ministry said. In the second quarter, export orders decreased 20.4 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said, adding that the annual decline reached 20.8 percent in the first six months of the year.

Zhang retires in tears after opponent erases ball markReutersChina’s Zhang Shuai on Tuesday retired from her Hungarian Grand Prix match in tears after her local opponent Amarissa Toth erased a ball mark on the clay court following a disputed line call. The chair umpire then stepped down to take a look at the mark and confirmed the ball had landed outside the line. China’s Zhang Shuai looks toward the court during her first-round women’s singles match against Croatia’s Donna Vekic at Wimbledon in London on July 5. “Wait, wait, wait. Keep the mark,” Zhang yelled.

‘Mission Impossible’: fears over AIBy Lee Ya-ching 李雅靖Tom Cruise’s latest Mission Impossible film has jumped on the artificial intelligence (AI) bandwagon, breaking the pattern of the evil antagonist being either an ambitious human or a malevolent alien species. In the age of AI, even if you are not an active information technology (IT) user, your personal information is still at risk of being breached. The AI antagonist in the Mission Impossible film is able to hack into systems connected to the Internet, acquire all the information it needs, and use the information and technologies to put everything under its control. Finally, AI could replace humans. The movie vaguely tells the audience that a powerful, omniscient and cognitive AI can replace humans and possibly annihilate them one day.

Chinese intelligence official to control Hong Kong securityReuters, HONG KONGChina’s appointment of a top intelligence official to run Hong Kong’s national security regime underscores its determination to tighten its grip on territory, diplomats and analysts said. Dong Jingwei (董經緯), 59, is the highest-level Chinese security official to be appointed to a senior role in Hong Kong since Beijing imposed the National Security Law on the territory in 2020. A taxi drives under the flags of China and Hong Kong outside a shopping mall in Hong Kong on July 5. Under the security law, China’s national security office has sweeping investigative and surveillance powers, and enjoys immunity from Hong Kong laws. “The appointment of such a powerful intelligence figure as Dong to take charge in Hong Kong is a bit of surprise,” one Asian envoy said.

EDITORIAL: Journey to the White HouseVice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party’s presidential candidate, on Monday last week told a forum in Yilan County that next year’s election is a choice between Zhongnanhai — the corridors of power in Beijing — and the White House. “If a Taiwanese president can enter the White House, we will have achieved the political objective that we have been pursuing,” he said. If Taiwan’s president can be welcomed into the White House — without drawing an extremely negative reaction from Beijing — it would show that the nation has finally been officially recognized as part of the international community. Ko also neglected to mention that the reason Lai would have to choose between Zhongnanhai and the White House is that the former would almost certainly refuse to deal with him, as it has with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) since 2016. Lai would not be visiting the White House, nor is he expected to meet any high-ranking US officials.

A firefighter yesterday works where storage facilities were hit during Russian missile and drone strikes in Odesa, Ukraine. Photo: ReutersBudanov posted amateur footage apparently taken at night of a large blast with fireballs shooting out from the flames. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities reported more drones and missiles targeting more parts of Ukraine than in recent days. “A difficult night of air attacks for all of Ukraine,” Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said on Telegram. Popko said the attacks were especially fierce in Odesa for a second consecutive night.

Host pulls out of Commonwealth Games‘HUGELY DISAPPOINTING’: The Commonwealth Games Federation said that Victoria had added sports and venues that raised the costs against the advice of the federationAFP, MELBOURNEThe Australian state of Victoria yesterday pulled out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games citing major cost blowouts, leaving organizers “hugely disappointed” as they scrambled to keep the multisport event afloat. Staff carry the Commonwealth Games Federation flag into the arena during the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Melbourne on March 15, 2006. We have informed Commonwealth Games authorities of our decision to seek to terminate the contract,” he said. Andrews refused to say how much it would cost to terminate the agreement, but said that talks with the Commonwealth Games Federation were amicable. These additional costs were “often against the advice of the Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games Australia,” it said, adding that it had received assurances that “sufficient funding was available to deliver the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games.”Commonwealth Games Australia president Ben Houston was equally scathing, saying that the new cost estimates were a “gross exaggeration.”“Beyond disappointing for us,” he told reporters.

Children must be taught empathyBy Wang Sou-jane 王守珍In November 2021, it was reported that Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜) had been abused by her then-boyfriend Raphael Lin (林秉樞). In October last year, Lin was sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison by the New Taipei City District Court. An antisocial person such as Lin has a ruthless personality. Asking an antisocial person to repent and apologize is doomed to failure. It is therefore extremely important to teach children to empathize with others and to have compassion for their suffering.

Number of major retail investors in TWSE surges in Q2By Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterThe number of major retail investors in the local stock market in the second quarter was the highest in the past five quarters as surging share prices attracted more big investors, data compiled by the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) showed on Monday. A “big player” is defined as an investor who trades at least NT$500 million (US$16.13 million) in shares on the TWSE in a single quarter. Average daily turnover was NT$269.73 billion in the second quarter, increasing by 23.43 percent from an average of NT$218.53 billion three months earlier, TWSE data showed. Retail investors accounted for 58.2 percent of the market’s turnover in the second quarter, up from 57.71 percent in the first quarter, while foreign institutional investors made up 30.93 percent, down from 31.53 percent. Local institutional investors represented the remaining 10.87 percent, up from 10.76 percent, the TWSE said.

Hon Hai unit to build plant in India for iPhone partsStaff writer, with CNAFoxconn Industrial Internet Co (FII, 富士康工業互聯網), a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), is to build a factory in a southern Indian state to make iPhone components, a Karnataka official said. Patil posted photos showing him meeting with FII chief executive officer Brand Cheng (鄭弘孟) and his team to discuss the investment. FII is expected to produce components such as screens and casings in India to be used in iPhone assembly, Indian daily the Deccan Herald recently reported. Separately, Hon Hai has invested NT$15 billion (US$483.93 million) to set up Foxconn EV Singapore Holdings Pte Ltd, that an industry source close to the investment said is aimed at electric vehicle (EV) development. The company said in a regulatory filing on Monday that establishing the subsidiary in Singapore is a long-term investment.

EDITORIAL: Risk of becoming ‘rats on the street’On the 26th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China, and three years since the implementation of the National Security Law, the Hong Kong Police Force this month announced life-long arrest warrants for eight exiled democracy advocates. China-appointed Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) even said that wanted activists should be treated like “rats in the street,” further indicating the end of freedom, human rights and democracy in the territory. Official census statistics show that the territory’s population has declined since 2020, the same year the security law took effect. In the face of China’s ambition to “unite” with Taiwan, Taiwanese have rejected Beijing’s “one country, two systems” proposal, which proved a failure in Hong Kong. They have a choice between protecting the dignity and autonomy of Taiwan, or risking the nation’s sovereignty and becoming “rats in the street.”

More needed to thwart fraudstersBy Jeng Shann-yinn 鄭善印Many people have received phone calls from scammers, especially in the past three years. The Executive Yuan formulated its action strategies on the basis of four major tasks, namely identifying fraud through educational campaigns, preventing fraud on telecommunications networks, intercepting fraud by following money flows and capturing fraudsters through law enforcement. It set the ultimate goals of preventing fraud, destroying the tools of fraud, blocking the flow of stolen money and cleaning up criminal groups. The FSC is responsible for handling dummy accounts, but it has repeatedly been passive in its response. With regard to financial institutions that have a particularly high proportion of dummy accounts, the FSC should investigate them and hold them accountable.

Resignations hit Singapore ruling partySIX-DECADE RULE: Tan Chuan-jin’s resignation as speaker comes at a risky time for the PAP, which is battling voter unhappiness and navigating a leadership successionBloombergSingapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) has been rocked by two unexpected resignations, including that of parliament speaker Tan Chuan-jin (陳川仁), further fueling one of the biggest political crises in the city-state’s history. Once seen as a potential prime ministerial candidate by political observers, Tan, 54, stepped down from positions in government and the party, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) said in a statement yesterday. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong attends the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore on May 31, 2019. “For me personally, this recent episode has added to the hurt I have caused my family,” Tan wrote in the letter published by the Singaporean Prime Minister’s Office. “It seems here now that when it rains, it pours,” said Eugene Tan, a law professor at Singapore Management University.

Global debt hangs over G20 finance ministers summitSENSITIVE TOPIC: Although Yellen and Suzuki reiterated their support for Kyiv, some were concerned that discussing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would derail talksAFP, GANDHINAGAR, IndiaG20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs yesterday opened talks on debt restructuring deals, multilateral bank reform and finance to tackle climate change, as they aim to bolster a sagging global economy. US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, left, and Indian Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman issue a joint statement ahead of the G20 finance ministers meeting in Gandhinagar, India, yesterday. Photo: AFPTalks would also focus on “critical global issues such as strengthening the multilateral development banks and taking coordinated climate action,” Sitharaman added. A top official from G20 chair India said there had been a “not so encouraging response” from Beijing on shared debt understanding. “In the Global North, climate change means emissions reductions,” World Bank president Ajay Banga wrote in an op-ed ahead of the meeting.