Hon Hai Precision Industry chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) is considering running in the next presidential election in 2020, following the success of US president-elect and businessman Donald Trump, a weekly magazine said.
The Chinese-language Next Magazine yesterday published a report saying that on Wednesday last week, after Trump started gaining the lead in the US election, Gou gathered his top executives to discuss strategies should Trump win the presidential race.
Gou reportedly surprised his executives by asking: “Regarding running for the presidency in 2020, what do you think?”
The report said that at first, the executives thought he was asking about matters regarding the 2020 presidential election, but later realized that Gou wanted to go a step further following Trump’s victory.
The report cited high-ranking Hon Hai sources as saying that Gou is not satisfied with government efficiency and policies and has presented several proposals, including a tax on wealthy people.
“However, [the proposals] have not been taken seriously... Gou feels anxious and angry. He is anxious about Taiwan’s competitiveness and angry at the government for being snail-paced, muddleheaded and incompetent,” the sources were quoted as saying.
The report triggered mixed responses from netizens.
Some said the chairman of Hon Hai, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, is their candidate of choice, while others opposed the idea.
Hon Hai has not commented on the report.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
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Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a