Foxconn founder and billionaire Guo Tai-ming has announced his candidacy for Taiwan's leadership as an independent candidate.
"I have decided to enter the 2024 Taiwan leadership race," declared 72-year-old Terry Kwok, also known as Kuo Tai-ming. "Under the Democratic Progressive Party's leadership for the past seven years, they have pushed Taiwan to the brink of war internationally. Their domestic policies are also riddled with mistakes. The era of entrepreneur leadership has begun."
Guo has long harboured ambitions to become Taiwan's leader and pursued the Kuomintang's candidacy this year. However, the Kuomintang ultimately chose Hou Yu-yi, a former police chief and current mayor of New Taipei City. Recent polls suggest Hou's prospects are not promising, placing him 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 mutual trust between the two sides of the strait. 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 2nd to qualify as an independent candidate. The Election Commission will review the signatures and announce the results before November 14th.
In recent months, he has held advocacy events across the island of Taiwan. Guo emphasized that the only way to avoid conflict in the Taiwan Strait is for the Democratic Progressive Party to be out of leadership.
Foxconn founder Kwok Tai-ming at an event in Taipei on July 16. Photo: Reuters
China views Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification and does not rule out the possibility of using force. Meanwhile, President Tsai Ing-wen asserts that only the people of Taiwan can decide the island's future. China considers Tsai Ing-wen a separatist and has repeatedly rejected her calls for negotiations. Relations across the Taiwan Strait have recently become more strained, with increased visits by US officials and lawmakers to the island.
Foxconn is one of the world's largest contract electronics manufacturers and a major supplier to Apple's iPhone. Guo resigned as CEO of Foxconn in 2019 and ran for leadership that year, but dropped out after failing to secure the Kuomintang's nomination. According to Forbes magazine, his net worth in 2023 was $7.2 billion.
Taiwan will hold its presidential election next January. Surveys show that Vice President Lai Ching-te, a member of President Tsai Ing-wen's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, is leading.
Huyen Le (According to AFP , Reuters )
Source link
Comment (0)