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
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
AIR ALERT: China’s reservation of airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea could be an attempt to test the US’ response ahead of a Trump-Xi meeting, the NSB head said China’s attempts to infiltrate Taiwan are systematic, planned and targeted, with activity shifting from recruiting mid-level military officers to rank-and-file enlisted personnel, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) integrates national security, intelligence operations and “united front” efforts into a dense network to conduct intelligence gathering and espionage in Taiwan, Tsai said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. It uses specific networks to screen targets through exchange activities and recruiting local collaborators to establish intelligence-gathering organizations, he said. China is also shifting who it targets to lower-ranking military personnel,
RSS