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
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion. Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China seas, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” by force, and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight. Stavros Lambrinidis, head of the EU delegation to the UN, also highlighted South China Sea
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expects its 2-nanometer (2nm) chip capacity to grow at a compound annual rate of 70 percent from this year to 2028. The projection comes as five fabs begin volume production of 2-nanometer chips this year — two in Hsinchu and three in Kaohsiung — TSMC senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer Cliff Hou (侯永清) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Silicon Valley, California, last week. Output in the first year of 2-nanometer production, which began in the fourth quarter of last year, is expected to
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
RSS