Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海集團) chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) yesterday confirmed his intention to run in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential primary, saying that he was told to do so in a dream by the goddess Matsu.
“Matsu told me to come out,” Gou said while visiting Cihui Temple (慈惠宮) in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋).
He said he was awaiting instructions from Holy Emperor Guan on how to help the nation’s “poor masses and its youth,” which would be sent to him via public opinion polls.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
In the afternoon, Gou attended a ceremony at which KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) gave him a Central Standing Committee “honorary certificate,” while referring to him as a “comrade” and “fellow party member.”
The certificate was understood to be a response to questions about Gou’s eligibility to run in the party’s primary as he had not been paying dues.
Gou said that the KMT must establish a primary that is “open and in touch with the people” to set a good precedent.
He would not accept the nomination without first going through the primary process, he added.
“A fair, open and transparent primary that is in touch with public sentiment is the first step toward establishing public trust in the KMT and developing the spirit of the party,” he said.
He has always valued peace, stability, economic prosperity and a better future above all else, whether as a businessman or while exploring other opportunities, which he is “very likely to do,” Gou said.
He said he hopes to work with the KMT to help it find its “party spirit and the honor of being a party member,” as well as to help it attract younger members.
Before yesterday’s ceremony, Gou bowed before photographs of Republic of China founder Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), and former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
Gou criticized former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for dismantling Chiang Ching-kuo’s office, which had remained in place until Chen took office.
Gou also said that he fondly remembers a couplet written by Chiang Ching-kuo that reads: “When calculating benefit, calculate for the benefit of the masses. When seeking fame, you should seek to be remembered through all the ages.”
Additional reporting by Chou Hsiang-yun and Lai Hsiao-tung
GEOPOLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The CGA’s nonmilitary role makes it a tool to avert diplomatic issues, an official said, while confirming the donation of a ship to Manila Coast Guard Administration (CGA) ships are scheduled to sail to the Philippines bearing the words “Taiwan Coast Guard” in a high-profile visit in October next year, the first such visit by a Taiwanese maritime law enforcement vessel to the Southeast Asian nation, the agency said yesterday. The CGA also confirmed that it had donated one of its decommissioned patrol vessels to the Philippines in a rare transfer of a retired ship to a nondiplomatic ally. The Republic of China (ROC) Navy last made such a visit in 1974, shortly before the Philippines switched diplomatic recognition to the People’s Republic of China in
‘GLOBAL WARNING’: The infiltration is not just a local problem, as Beijing has been deploying the same tactics worldwide against Western democracies, a report said Between 50,000 and 100,000 Chinese spies are operating in Taiwan, far more than the National Security Bureau’s previous estimate of 5,000, German journalist and author Jurgen Kremb said on Monday. Kremb presented his research, titled “The War of Spies: How China’s Intelligence Services Are Infiltrating Taiwan — and What Europe Must Learn from It,” at a joint event held by the Taiwan offices of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the European Values Center for Security Policy. The report was published in June in the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau’s Prospect & Exploration Monthly (展望與探索月刊). By spies, he said he was referring to informants,
CALL FOR CHANGE: They urged the UN to facilitate Taiwan’s involvement in the body, recognize its peace efforts and to work with members in preventing military conflict Representatives to the UN from five of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies sent a joint letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday, calling for the country’s inclusion in the body. Allies in the letter sent ahead of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly General Debate made three demands in support of Taiwan: inclusion, recognition and camaraderie. They implored the UN to seek an appropriate way to facilitate Taiwan’s meaningful involvement in the world governing body, saying that UN Resolution 2758, which accepted the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a member of the UN, does not exclude Taiwan. Beijing claims that the
WASHINGTON MEETING: Japan’s Hirofumi Takinami said participants rejected the idea that the US should limit its defensive perimeter to the Second Island Chain US and Japanese lawmakers agree that the US must defend the First Island Chain, including Taiwan, and should not fall back to the Second Island Chain, while “a Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency and therefore a US-Japan alliance contingency,” media reported after a meeting between officials of the two nations in Washington on Tuesday. A delegation of Japanese lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic Party met with US Senator Thom Tillis, co-chair of the Senate Taiwan Caucus, and US Representative Ami Bera, co-chair of the US Congressional Taiwan caucus, to discuss issues concerning East Asia and the Taiwan Strait. The Japanese and
RSS