Foxconn founder Terry Gou (R) announced Monday that he is running for president of Taiwan as an independent candidate. Photo by Ritchie B. Tongo/EPA-EFE
Aug. 28 (UPI) — Terry Gou, the founder and former chief executive officer of technology manufacturer Foxconn, announced Monday that he is running for president of Taiwan, stating if elected he will solve cross-strait issues with China and revive the self-governing island’s economy.
“Taiwan’s political and economic situation has gradually turned from the prosperity of the past to the edge of a cliff,” the 72-year old said Monday during a press conference announcing his candidacy.
“If we don’t rein in from the precipice, we will fall into an abyss from which we cannot turn back.”
Gou announced he is running as an independent candidate in the 2024 presidential election, which is a race that also includes New Taipei Mayor Hou You-yi of the Kuomintang party, Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party and former Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People’s Party.
To qualify, he will need to secure roughly 290,000 signatures with 45 days of completing his application, according to Taiwan’s Central Election Commission.
During his announcement, he touted his decades of experience as an entrepreneur and a business leader as having afforded him the knowledge to improve the economy as well as bestowing upon him “a rich international perspective” that he will use to transform Taiwan into a key player in the new era of artificial intelligence.
“The future president of Taiwan needs insight into industrial development, an understanding of the world economic situation and, more importantly, the executive power to lead the people out of the predicament. This is the leadership that Taiwan’s future president urgently needs. The era of ‘entrepreneurs running the country’ has come,” he said.
Concerning deteriorating relations with China, Gou said the ruling DPP has brought Taipei close to war, vowing that if elected president he will not let the island become another Ukraine.
“Taiwan must never become Ukraine, and I will never let Taiwan become the next Ukraine,” he said.
China views Taiwan as a wayward province and has vowed to retake the self-governing island by force, if it must. The United States maintains a policy of strategic ambiguity in how it would respond in defense of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, but President Joe Biden has repeatedly said it would defend Taipei before walking the statements back.
The United States has also been deepening its relations with Taiwan to the anger of China, which has been increasingly deploying fighter jets into the island’s air defense identification zone in a practice Taipei calls “gray zone” warfare aimed at straining its defense capabilities and morale.
Hours prior to Gou’s announcement, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said it had detected 11 Chinese warplanes and three ships, of which six of the aircraft had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entered its ADIZ.
On Saturday, it said 32 warplanes and nine ships had been detected near the island, with 20 aircraft having crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entered its ADIZ.
“I implore all the people, give me four years,” he said. “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.”
Gou founded Foxconn, which is also known as Hon Hai Technology Group, in 1974. According to Foxconn, it is the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, producing products for companies such as Apple.
The election is scheduled to be held in January.