“I have decided to participate in the presidential election of 2024 and to present my candidacy,” he said during a press conference. The presidential election in Taiwan will take place in January 2024. Current President Tsai Ing-wen is completing her second and final term.
“I implore the people of Taiwan to give me four years,” added this businessman who has long displayed his presidential ambitions. However, he failed to secure the nomination of the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan’s main opposition party. The KMT preferred a former police chief, Hou Yu-ih, now mayor of New Taipei City.
According to analysts, Gou’s chances of success are slim against the other opposition candidates who will face Vice President Lai Ching-te, a member of the current president’s Democratic Progressive Party and who is currently leading the polls. Terry Gou presented himself to the press as an official who could promote peace between Taiwan and China.
Peace “for 50 years”
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.
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 fifty years and to establish the deepest foundations of mutual trust between the two parties,” Terry Gou also added during his press conference.
Currently, Vice President Lai Ching-te is the frontrunner in the polls followed by Taiwan People’s Party Ko Wen-je and KMT Party leader Hou Yu-ih. The KMT has also expressed “its deep regret” about the candidacy of Terry Gou and called on him to support Hou. According to one of the KMT leaders, the arrival of Gou as an independent in the race for the presidency will create chaos in the opposition.
“It seems highly unlikely for any opposition candidate to win the election,” said Sung Wen-ti, a specialist teacher from Taiwan.
Taiwan, next Ukraine?
“In a four-candidate scenario, the arrival of Gou can urgently encourage the opposition to regroup and work together,” added Sung Wen-ti. The billionaire promised he would “never let Taiwan become the next Ukraine” in reference to its invasion by Russia.
He also indicated that the opposition camp should “integrate and find candidates who meet the demands of the population”. Asked about his links with the Chinese government given Foxconn’s massive investments on the continent, Terry 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”. However, the boss of Foxconn, who presents himself as independent, will still have to collect 290,000 signatures to be eligible. Terry Gou has organized several election campaign 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.