- Gou left his position as Foxconn’s CEO in 2019.
- Terry Gou said that he would run as an independent for the position of president of Taiwan.
- Taiwan, a democratically run country, will hold the election in mid-January.
The founder of electronics giant Foxconn, Terry Gou, has declared his ambition to run as an independent president of Taiwan in 2024.
Gou, who is well-known for his background in business and finance, promised to establish a solid basis for mutual trust between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and provide 50 years of peace to the region. After not being selected as the nominee for the Kuomintang (KMT), the largest opposition party, he has been teasing a run for office for several months.
Terry Gou
The Chinese government has sworn to “reunite” China and Taiwan, although the majority of Taiwanese citizens and political parties have opposed this.
China has become more hostile to Taiwan under Xi Jinping’s leadership, shutting off contact with Taipei after President Tsai Ing-wen’s victory in the 2016 election.
With the help of 32 aircraft, nine ships, weaponized drones, fighter jets, spy aircraft, and bombers, the Chinese military appeared to completely encircle the main island.
Gou blamed the rise in hostilities on Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which he described as crooked and haughty. In a poll conducted last week, Ko Wen-je, the former mayor of Taipei City and candidate for the Taiwan People’s party he established, finished behind both Hou of the KMT and Lai Ching-te, the current vice president and DPP’s presidential nominee.
Since accepting the nomination, Lai has toned down his approach and stayed more closely to Tsai’s stance than he had previously when he described himself as a “worker” for Taiwanese independence.
By claiming that the Republic of China (Taiwan) already has sovereign status and is thus not required to declare independence, he has managed to avoid treading on any Chinese red lines.
