Billionaire Foxconn boss Terry Gou opens up clear lead over KMT rivals in race to become next president of Taiwan
- Latest polls show Gou’s support reaching 33 per cent while his rival Han Kuo-yu has slipped to 22 per cent
- Han’s support has slipped following a series of errors while his rival’s support for the island’s sovereignty has helped bolster his position
Billionaire Foxconn founder Terry Gou Tai-ming appears to be in pole position to become the opposition Kuomintang’s candidate in next year’s Taiwanese presidential election after the latest poll gave him a clear lead.
Capitalising on a series of missteps by his rival Han Kuo-yu, the KMT mayor of Kaohsiung, Gou has seen his once-flagging support rising sharply.
Han, who helped the mainland-friendly KMT to recapture control of 15 of the 22 cities and counties in Taiwan after his in November’s local government elections, was originally tipped to be the party’s
standard bearer in January’s election, with polling showing him well ahead of Gou and incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen.
But in the latest opinion survey released on Monday by U Media, a relatively neutral online news outlet set up by veteran journalist Chou Tien-jui, Gou emerged as the frontrunner in the KMT primaries, which will be conducted through telephone opinion polls between July 8 and 14.
Of the five KMT candidates, Gou received 33.9 per cent of support from respondents, leading Han, who was on 22 per cent.