Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) founder Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) campaign team yesterday said that members of the public would be happy to see the tycoon work with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) when asked if the three would collaborate for next year’s presidential election.
Gou, who returned to Taiwan on Wednesday, reportedly met with Ko and Wang since then, possibly to discuss a collaboration.
Asked whether the three could form an alliance, Amanda Liu (劉宥彤), a senior member of Gou’s campaign team for the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential primary, did not exclude the possibility.
All three are important people with great influence, Liu told reporters.
“They can meet to talk about how to make the nation better and it does not necessarily have something to do with the elections,” she said.
“I am sure members of the public would be happy to see them collaborate if they can help make the nation better,” Liu added.
However, Gou has no plans to launch an independent presidential bid or join Ko’s new political party, she said.
While local Chinese-language media on Friday reported that Gou and Ko met that day, Liu said the two did not meet and only spoke briefly by telephone.
Gou’s son and Syntrend Creative Park (三創園區) chairman Jeff Gou (郭守正) was talking with Taipei City Government adviser Tsai Pi-ju (蔡壁如) by telephone, Liu said, adding that the phone was passed to Terry Gou and Ko for a short while.
During their conversation, Terry Gou told Ko that the mayor has been receiving a great deal of media coverage, to which Ko responded: “That is true, but the news about you is bigger,” she said.
Terry Gou said he heard about Ko’s plan to form a political party, adding that although he cannot attend an event to mark the party’s founding tomorrow, he would send flowers, Liu said.
The two talked about meeting, but did not set any concrete plans, she said.
Asked about reports that Terry Gou met with Wang on Saturday, Liu said she has no information about the meeting, as she was not involved.
Terry Gou and Wang are good friends, she said, adding that the two can call or meet each other anytime they want.
Asked whether Terry Gou would meet with KMT presidential nominee and Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), who he has not met with since losing the primary to Han by 17 percentage points last month, Liu said she believes he would.
“It just requires the right timing, form and process, like many other things,” she said.
Separately yesterday, when asked about a possible collaboration with Terry Gou and Wang, Ko said that Taiwan’s political scene would certainly be reformed following next year’s legislative and presidential elections.
In the history of China, a tripartite division of the nation happened only once, during the era of the Three Kingdoms, Ko said, adding that from a mathematical perspective, a triangle is not a stable structure.
That such a situation is happening in Taiwan means that many people need to rethink what they have done to cause this, he added.
Additional reporting by Lai Hsiao-tung
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