Foxconn billionaire Terry Gou announces Taiwanese presidential run – South China Morning Post Feedzy

Foxconn founder Terry Gou intends to run for the Taiwanese presidency, making next year’s election a four-way race that is likely to hurt the “non-green” camp and help the chances of Vice-President William Lai Ching-te, the front runner from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

Revealing his plans at a news conference in Taipei on Monday, Gou said he wanted to stand for the top post in the island’s elections in January because he thought the independence-leaning DPP was corrupt and unable to offer a bright future for the island.

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“In the past seven years, the situation in Taiwan has remained grim and its economy, defence and diplomacy have approached the edge of the cliff …. For this, we must pull the DPP off the shelf,” the billionaire businessman said.

Gou failed to win the nomination from the main opposition Kuomintang party, which chose New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih as its candidate in May.

He told journalists on Monday that in the past he had had no desire to take part in politics. That changed because “the DPP has led Taiwan to the risks of war in its seven years of administration” and its “internal policies are full of mistakes”, he said.

Gou said the opposition camp needed to unite to achieve the goal of overturning the DPP’s hold on power. “That is why I proposed at the end of July the formation of the Grand Public Opinion Alliance in order to choose the best ticket to win in the race,” he said.

In addition to KMT candidate Hou, former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je – who heads the Taiwan People’s Party – has also thrown his hat into the ring for the anti-DPP or “non-green” camp.

Gou, who will run as an independent, has called many times for talks with Hou and Ko to negotiate a single candidate with a better chance of a successful challenge against the DPP’s Lai.

The non-green camp is fighting an uphill battle, and Gou’s entry into the race could mean none of the camp gets over the line if they fail to unify.

The latest opinion polls show Ko on 25 per cent, Ho on 20 per cent and Gou trailing at 15 per cent. In contrast, Lai has remained steady over the past three months, sitting at above 40 per cent popularity.

“If there is no unity, it will only benefit Lai Ching-te,” Gou said. He added that he would “continue to invite the two other opposition candidates to sit down and have a cup of coffee or milk tea to talk about important state affairs”.

On Monday, both Hou and Ko declined to comment on Gou’s proposal to come up with a united ticket.

“We respect the right of Terry Gou to run in the race,” Ko’s spokesman Lee Ting-li said.

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The DPP said anyone in a democratic society could run and Gou had that right. But it urged non-green candidates not to stoke fears of a cross-strait war and manipulate the election in their own favour.

Meanwhile, former KMT secretary general Lee Chien-lung accused Gou of having an “integrity issue”, saying the billionaire business leader’s action would only hurt the non-green camp.

“Everybody knows who is to blame for the situation today and why Lai Ching-te is able to sit back and relax to win the race,” Lee said.

The KMT in a statement expressed its “deep regret” over Gou’s intention to join the contest, saying that before the nomination process Gou had committed to supporting the party’s candidate if he failed to win the nomination.

“We hope Terry Gou will abide by his commitment and return to our team to support the party’s nominee Hou Yu-ih,” it said.

The KMT warned members not to back Gou or help him in the campaign, or they would face serious disciplinary action, including expulsion.

Gou will have two months from mid-September to collect signatures from at least 290,000 eligible voters who endorse him to run as an independent.

A KMT lawmaker who declined to be named said it would be difficult for Gou to win the presidential race given that he constantly trailed other candidates in opinion polls.

“But his declaration will scare away neutral or non-green voters fed up by disunity and infighting within the opposition camp,” the legislator said.

Analysts said it was still too early to predict Lai as the winner, given that the election was still four months away and a lot could happen in that time.

Stephen Tan, managing director of International Policy Advisory Group, a Taipei-based geopolitical risks and policy consulting firm, said Ko and Hou were “mulling to form a united ticket” and Gou’s participation might prompt them to form a coalition without the Foxconn founder.

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Tan said a united ticket of Ko and Hou, or the other way round, although difficult to achieve, might weaken Lai’s chances, or even defeat him in the presidential race.

He said the best time to assess the candidates with the best chance was mid-November, after official candidacy registrations were done and about 70 days out from the election.

Tan said that although support for Lai now exceeded 40 per cent, he had to aim for over 50 per cent for certain victory.

“This means he needs to garner at least 45 per cent or above of the support from voters by November if he wants to achieve the 50 per cent mark,” Tan said.

Wang Kung-yi, head of the Taiwan International Strategic Study Society, agreed there was no need for the non-green camp to be prematurely pessimistic. Wang said Gou might be able to turn the tide by ultimately brokering a united opposition ticket.

“Compared with Hou and Ko, Gou has the money and is a business leader who might be able to offer better prospects to young and neutral voters, meaning he has a better chance to gain support from those voters to head the united ticket,” Wang said.