Foxconn’s Terry Gou: I want to be Taiwan’s president, not running mate

Tycoon says he is the most qualified to be the island’s leader and is ‘not the deputy type of person’

He faces stiff competition in primaries to select the Kuomintang challenger to Tsai Ing-wen

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Terry Gou said his success in business made him the best candidate to lead Taiwan. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 6:00pm, 13 May 2019Updated: 10:47pm, 13 May 2019

Billionaire Foxconn chairman and Taiwan presidential hopeful Terry Gou Tai-ming has said he is focused only on being the island’s leader and would not be a suitable vice-president for the opposition Kuomintang in January’s presidential poll.

The 68-year-old will be vying with at least three other Kuomintang heavyweights in the party primaries to choose a candidate to challenge incumbent Tsai Ing-wen, but he rejected the idea of taking the role of running mate if he fails to win the presidential ticket.

“I am not the deputy type of person, and I am not suitable to be an aide because I have long been playing the decision-making role,” Gou said in a news conference on Monday after meeting Kuomintang (KMT) chairman Wu Den-yih to exchange views on the party’s primary rules.

Last month, Gou threw his hat in the ring for the self-ruled island’s upcoming election, saying the sea goddess Matsu had told him to “step forward and do something for Taiwanese people”.

On Monday, Gou argued that his business achievements and familiarity with economic and hi-tech issues made him the most qualified person to be leader.

Asked whether he would be willing to be the running mate of the winner if he failed in the primaries, Gou – the leader of his business empire for decades – said he did not think so.