Taiwanese tycoon Gou thanks Chinese sea goddess for inspiration then announces 2020 presidential run
- Foxconn founder counts down to decision day on challenge for the island’s top job
- Urged on by Goddess Matsu, Gou plans to ‘do more things for the people’
Taiwanese tycoon Terry Gou said the chances of him challenging Tsai Ing-wen in the election for the self-ruled island’s presidency next year would improve if he followed the instructions of Chinese sea goddess Matsu.
During a visit to the Tzu Hui Temple in New Taipei City on Wednesday, the head of Foxconn, the world’s biggest electronics contract manufacturer, said the 2020 presidential elections would shape the future of Taiwan and he recently dreamed of Matsu.
“Several days ago, I dreamed of Goddess Matsu, who asked me to do more things for the people in Taiwan … and I will follow her instruction,” he said before announcing later in the day that he would stand for the island’s highest office.
One of Taiwan’s wealthiest men, Gou shook the political landscape on Tuesday by saying that if he ran, he would seek to take part in the opposition Kuomintang’s primaries instead of standing as an independent.
According to the KMT, Gou was to accept a citation from the Beijing-friendly party on Wednesday following his strong support for it in recent years. According to local news media, this move would pave the way for him to join the party’s primary before becoming the KMT candidate.
Gou had been a KMT member for 50 years but did not complete a re-registration process in 2000, raising doubts about his membership.
A KMT official told the South China Morning Post that if Gou wanted to run, there were many ways for the party to recognise him as a member who was qualified to join the primary. The citation was one way, given that through his mother, Gou had offered a no-interest loan of NT$45 million (US$1.5 million) to the KMT in 2016 to help it through financial difficulties.
Gou, 68, said he had considered a presidential bid because he wanted to do something for the Taiwanese people, especially those aged between 20 and 40, as the next two decades would be critical for the island.
Now with a net worth of US$7.4 billion, Gou founded Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known as Foxconn, in 1974 with US$7,500 and 10 staff in Taiwan. The company has factories in a number of countries – most of them are on mainland China – employing more than a million workers.
