Foxconn founder and billionaire Terry Gou during a press conference where he announced his official candidacy for Taiwan’s presidential election on August 28, 2023 in Taipei (AFP/Sam Yeh)
Foxconn founder and billionaire Terry Gou announced his official candidacy for president in Taiwan as an independent on Monday.
“I have decided to participate in the presidential election of 2024 and present my candidacy,” he said during a press conference on Monday.
The presidential election in Taiwan will take place in January 2024.
“I implore the people of Taiwan to give me four years,” he added.
China considers Taiwan as one of its provinces which it wants to return to its fold, if necessary by force, even if it says it favors a peaceful path.
“I promise to bring peace to the Taiwan Strait for the next 50 years and build the deepest foundations of mutual trust between the two sides,” the 72-year-old Gou also added.
Relations between Beijing and Taipei soured in 2016 with the coming to power of President Tsai Ing-wen, who refuses any Chinese claim to Taiwan, a refuge for Chinese nationalists at the end of the civil war in China, won by the Communists in 1949.
The billionaire promised he would “never let Taiwan become the next Ukraine” in reference to its invasion by Russia.
Asked about his ties to the Chinese government given Foxconn’s massive investments on the mainland, Mr. Gou recalled that he had not been involved in the management of the company for four years.
“I have never been under the control (of the Chinese Communist Party),” he said before assuring: “I will not be threatened”.
Mr. Gou, 72, who has long displayed his presidential ambitions, said earlier this year that he was seeking the nomination of the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan’s main opposition party.
But the KMT preferred a former police chief, Hou Yu-ih, now mayor of New Taipei City despite his poor results in recent weeks.
Foxconn founder and billionaire Terry Gou during a press conference where he announced his official candidacy for Taiwan’s presidential election on August 28, 2023 in Taipei (AFP/Sam Yeh)
However, the boss of Foxconn, who presents himself as independent, will still have to collect 290,000 signatures to be eligible. Mr. Gou has organized several election campaign-style events in Taiwan in recent months.
Foxconn – also known by its official name Hon Hai Precision Industry – is the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and assembles devices for many companies, including Apple.
Vice President Lai Ching-te, a member of Ms Tsai Ing-wen’s Democratic Progressive Party, is currently the frontrunner.
© 2023 AFP
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