Foxconn founder, billionaire Guo Tai-ming, announced his candidacy for Taiwan's presidency as an independent candidate.
"I have decided to run for Taiwan's leadership in 2024," said Terry Guo, 72, in a statement today. "Under the leadership of the Democratic Progressive Party for the past seven years, they have pushed Taiwan to the brink of war internationally. Their domestic policies have also been full of mistakes. The era of business leadership has begun."
Mr. Gou has long had ambitions to become Taiwan’s leader and ran for the KMT’s nomination this year. However, the KMT eventually selected Hou You-yi, a former police chief and now mayor of New Taipei City. Polls in recent weeks have shown Hou’s prospects to be bleak, with him ranking third among the candidates.
Mr. Guo Taiming attends an event in Zhejiang province, China in 2018. Photo: AFP
"Give me four years and I promise to bring 50 years of peace to the Taiwan Strait, building the deepest foundation for cross-strait mutual trust. Taiwan must not become Ukraine and I will not let Taiwan become the next Ukraine," Guo said.
The billionaire needs to collect 290,000 signatures by November 2 to qualify as an independent candidate. The Election Commission will review the signatures and announce the results by November 14.
In recent months, he has held advocacy events across Taiwan, insisting that the only way to avoid conflict across the Taiwan Strait is for the DPP to no longer be in power.
Foxconn founder Guo Tai-ming at an event in Taipei on July 16. Photo: Reuters
China views Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification and has not ruled out the use of force. Meanwhile, leader Tsai Ing-wen has asserted that only the Taiwanese people can decide the island's future. China views Tsai as a separatist and has repeatedly rejected her calls for talks. Relations across the Taiwan Strait have recently become increasingly tense, with US officials and lawmakers increasing their visits to the island.
Foxconn is one of the world's largest contract electronics manufacturers and a major supplier of Apple's iPhone. Guo stepped down as CEO of Foxconn in 2019 and ran for president that year, but dropped out after failing to win the Kuomintang's nomination. His net worth in 2023 was $7.2 billion, according to Forbes .
Taiwan will hold a presidential election in January next year. Polls show Vice President Lai Ching-teh, a member of Tsai Ing-wen's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, is leading.
Huyen Le (According to AFP , Reuters )
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