Foxconn’s Terry Gou announces Taiwan presidential bid

He failed this year in an attempt to become the opposition Kuomintang party’s nominee for the January election.

Terry Gou salutes launches his campaign in Taipei on Monday. Picture: AFP

Foxconn’s billionaire founder Terry Gou announced on Monday that he will run for president of Taiwan as an independent candidate.

Mr Gou made his fortune turning Foxconn into the world’s largest contract producer of electronics, including for Apple’s iPhones. He failed this year in an attempt to become the opposition Kuomintang party’s nominee for the January election.

“I have decided to join the 2024 presidential race,” Mr Gou said in Taipei. “I implore the people of Taiwan to give me four years. I promise that I will bring peace to the Taiwan Strait for the next 50 years and lay the deepest foundation of mutual trust ­between the two sides.”

China considers Taiwan its territory, to be taken one day by force if necessary. President Tsai Ing-wen, who is wrapping up her second and final term, refuses to accept that position and Beijing has ramped up diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan since she came into office in 2016.

“The Democratic Progressive Party has been in power for more than seven years, and it has brought the danger of war to ­Taiwan,” Mr Gou said referring to Ms Tsai’s party. He said he would “never let Taiwan become the next Ukraine”, referring to Russia’s ongoing invasion. But Foxconn has built huge factories in China, and critics have alleged that he has a cosy relationship with the leadership in Beijing.

The KMT has chosen Hou ­­Yu-ih, a former police chief who is the mayor of New Taipei City, as its candidate for the 2024 election. He has been polling poorly in ­recent weeks, however.

Vice-President Lai Ching-te is the DPP’s candidate and the frontrunner in the polls.

AFP