Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has reached out to the primary campaign team of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) as he prepares for the launch of a new political party, Amanda Liu (劉宥彤), a senior member of Gou’s campaign team and chief executive officer of the Yonglin Education Foundation, said yesterday.
Ko yesterday announced that he is to form a political party named after the Taiwan People’s Party founded by democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水), with Liu saying that a Ko aide had spoken with the Gou team.
The two camps would stay in touch, Liu said.
Photo: CNA
She had not received an invitation to meet with Ko’s team since Gou returned to Taiwan on Wednesday, she said in response to media queries over whether there would be discussions about collaborating.
However, Taipei City Government adviser Tsai Pi-ju (蔡壁如) on Wednesday telephoned her to speak about Ko’s plan to form a political party, Liu said.
Ko on Tuesday next week is to host an event to mark the founding of the party, but Gou’s team has not yet received a formal invitation, Liu said.
Asked how Gou reacted to Ko’s announcement, Liu said that his response was that everyone has a right to form a political party.
Gou has no plans to run for president, but if that changes, everything would be done according to the law, Liu said when asked about Ko urging Gou to disclose what assets he has abroad.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) on Sunday confirmed Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) as its presidential candidate.
Asked whether collaboration between Gou and Han was possible, Liu said that the two still have “unresolved issues.”
“During the primary, there was some conflict over issues unrelated to national policies and I think Gou might need to learn more about those things,” she said.
In an interview later on Pop Radio, Liu said that collaboration with the KMT has to be based on mutual values.
“It is not that Gou cannot accept Han, but that he cannot accept a certain media owner behind Han,” she said, an apparent reference to Want Want China Times Group chairman Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明).
The connections between Tsai, CtiTV News — which he owns — and Beijing have raised concerns in Taiwan and abroad, she said.
Separately, Han yesterday reiterated that he has reached out to Gou and hopes to visit him soon.
Asked if he thinks Gou might collaborate with Ko, Han said: “Anything is possible.”
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