Terry Gou, founder and former CEO of Taiwanese tech giant Foxconnalso known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, has made the decision to run again, for the second time, for the presidency of Taiwanaccording to The Register.
Gou, who is now 72 years old, also wanted to be the candidate for the presidency of Taiwan in 2019. He then ran for it in the primary elections of the Kuomintang, the Chinese Nationalist Party of Taiwan. Gou lost these elections and left the party. But after a while he joined him again, and he has launched a new campaign to present himself again.
In several media appearances this week, Gou has indicated that he will offer a manifesto for his candidacy within a month or so. Meanwhile, he has unveiled a position focused on ensuring Taiwan’s future prosperity, and independence from both China and the United States.
In his career, this billionaire faces some pretty significant hurdles. For starters, Kuomintang leaders have shown their preference for the presidency for the new Taipei mayor, Hoy Yu-ih, as the party’s nominee for the presidency. Gou has appealed to the court of public opinion, saying he believes party leaders would do well to value public opinion ratings as a yardstick.
Foxconn’s success and prestige as a sign of Taiwan’s success is a point in favor of Gou, who is widely admired by the public, but Mayor Hou is considered Taiwan’s most reliable legislator, although that was in polls. made before Gou signaled his intention to stand in the elections.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), to which the current president, Tsai Ing-wen belongs, is also a threat to the one who becomes the Kuomintang candidate, since polls give both the same level of support.
Another obstacle to Gou’s intentions is the lack of a clear and fixed road map for the election of candidates. The Kuomintang will clarify the method of selecting its candidate soon, and then the campaign will come, prior to the elections, which will take place in January 2024.
Meanwhile, Taiwan remains mired in its geopolitical troubles. The Kuomintang, despite having opposed the Communist Party of China in a war in the middle of the last century, today seems to be more pro-Chinese than the DPP. It is a problem for the organization, since the majority of public opinion opposes reunification with China. Gou knows how to navigate China wellwhich proves the large number of Foxconn facilities in China, which it has used to make billions of iPhones and other devices.
However, it remains to be seen whether the company’s founder can use his experience in dealing with China at a business level to manage Chinese President Xi Jinping’s desire to stay with Taiwan in a few years. On the other hand you have the United States, which has signaled that it would help Taiwan in an armed conflict with China, and has recently stated that it would rather see Taiwan’s semiconductor factories destroyed than see them fall into Chinese hands.
Photo: Fortune Global Forum
