Aug 29 – Terry Gou, the billionaire creator of Apple supplier Foxconn, launched his candidature for Taiwanese president in January elections on Monday, saying he wants to unite the opposition and prevent the island from becoming “the next Ukraine.”
Gou is the fourth candidate to enter the race, but his poll results prior to his declaration placed him far behind the front-runner, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) William Lai, who is now vice president.
Gou, 72, stood down as Foxconn CEO in 2019 and ran for president for the first time that year, but pulled out after failing to secure the nomination of Taiwan’s biggest opposition party, the Kuomintang KMT. The KMT has always supported tight ties with China, whose government claims Taiwan as its own.
Gou ran again for the KMT’s presidential nomination earlier this year, but the party chose Hou Yu-ih, the mayor of New Taipei City, instead.
- Advertisement -
Gou has spent the last two weeks touring Taiwan and hosting campaign-style rallies, fueling suspicion that he may run as an independent candidate.
Gou slammed the DPP while speaking at a Taipei conference facility amid two giant Taiwanese flags.
“Internationally, they have led Taiwan to the brink of war under the DPP’s rule over the last seven years or so.” “Their domestic policies are riddled with errors,” Gou remarked, adding that “the era of entrepreneur’s rule” had begun.
“Give me four years, and I promise to bring 50 years of peace to the Taiwan Strait and lay the most solid foundation for mutual trust across the strait,” he said in an appeal to Taiwan voters.
“Taiwan must not become the next Ukraine, and I will not let Taiwan become the next Ukraine.”
The DPP advocates Taiwan’s independence from China, although the government it leads has frequently offered talks with China, only to be turned down.
