Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘), who has long flirted with the idea of standing for president, recently said that when he visited temples during the Lunar New Year, he was bequeathed the divine consent of sea goddess Matsu (媽祖) and god of war Guan Gong (關公) to run for highest office.
His claim was reminiscent of his talk during the 2020 presidential election, when Gou said that Matsu had come to him in a dream, asking him to enter the race.
Article 7 of the Constitution protects people’s right to hold religious beliefs, but it also ensures that Taiwan is upheld by a modern democratic system that keeps religion separate from politics.
However, Matsu and Guan Gong have a large number of believers in Taiwan, and therefore politicians cannot resist participating in religious events to boost their popularity.
Gou’s “divine” ploys are anachronistic and obsolete. Nobody buys into the feudal idea of the “divine right of kings” in this day and age.
To find a pretext for his personal ambition, Gou’s maneuvers only exploit the silence of divine deities and their influence on public belief. This is not only sacrilege, it is an affront to the spirit of democracy by placing the selection of presidents on a par with the election of cult leaders and con artists.
Democracy is built on the principle of disenchantment, by replacing mysticism and apotheosis with democratic elections, human rights and the rule of law. Nevertheless, Gou likely cannot understand this, as he supports the concept that “democracy cannot put food on the table.”
Gou acquired COVID-19 vaccines for the nation as a way to purchase political capital and underpin his bid for the presidency. He has gone further, using religion as a bargaining chip. It is ludicrous.
If Gou needs the consent of deities to run for president, might he cast divination blocks to manage state affairs if he is elected?
Lai Yen-cheng is a doctoral candidate at National Yangming Chiao Tung University.
Translated by Rita Wang
Having lived through former British prime minister Boris Johnson’s tumultuous and scandal-ridden administration, the last place I had expected to come face-to-face with “Mr Brexit” was in a hotel ballroom in Taipei. Should I have been so surprised? Over the past few years, Taiwan has unfortunately become the destination of choice for washed-up Western politicians to turn up long after their political careers have ended, making grandiose speeches in exchange for extraordinarily large paychecks far exceeding the annual salary of all but the wealthiest of Taiwan’s business tycoons. Taiwan’s pursuit of bygone politicians with little to no influence in their home
In 2025, it is easy to believe that Taiwan has always played a central role in various assessments of global national interests. But that is a mistaken belief. Taiwan’s position in the world and the international support it presently enjoys are relatively new and remain highly vulnerable to challenges from China. In the early 2000s, the George W. Bush Administration had plans to elevate bilateral relations and to boost Taiwan’s defense. It designated Taiwan as a non-NATO ally, and in 2001 made available to Taiwan a significant package of arms to enhance the island’s defenses including the submarines it long sought.
US lobbyist Christian Whiton has published an update to his article, “How Taiwan Lost Trump,” discussed on the editorial page on Sunday. His new article, titled “What Taiwan Should Do” refers to the three articles published in the Taipei Times, saying that none had offered a solution to the problems he identified. That is fair. The articles pushed back on points Whiton made that were felt partisan, misdirected or uninformed; in this response, he offers solutions of his own. While many are on point and he would find no disagreement here, the nuances of the political and historical complexities in
Taiwan faces an image challenge even among its allies, as it must constantly counter falsehoods and misrepresentations spread by its more powerful neighbor, the People’s Republic of China (PRC). While Taiwan refrains from disparaging its troublesome neighbor to other countries, the PRC is working not only to forge a narrative about itself, its intentions and value to the international community, but is also spreading lies about Taiwan. Governments, parliamentary groups and civil societies worldwide are caught in this narrative tug-of-war, each responding in their own way. National governments have the power to push back against what they know to be
RSS