With the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) set to nominate its presidential candidate today, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) has pulled out all the stops in an attempt to win the nomination.
Gou publicly accused Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman David Lee (李大維) of calling him to block his purchase of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines during Lee’s term as Presidential Office secretary-general, at the order of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
This accusation lacks concrete evidence, and Lee has denied the claim.
I believe that many people still admire Gou for coordinating the Yonglin Foundation and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to each donate 5 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to Taiwan in 2021.
In response, Tsai, accompanied by Lee, met with Gou and TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) at the Presidential Office on June 18, 2021, to express her gratitude to them, and the Presidential Office released a statement and photographs to publicize the event.
Gou’s fight for vaccine purchases benefited not only the millions of people who received the shots, but also earned him praise from the Democratic Progressive Party government. While striving for the KMT’s presidential nomination, it would be worth his while to remember his achievement, which showed his philanthropy and ability to break through party lines.
Regrettably, Gou has chosen to cater to skeptics while leaning toward extremists, trying to sensationalize the rumor that “the Tsai administration blocked vaccines.”
By doing so, he is missing the opportunity to unite Taiwan and show his good side.
Elections pass, but the candidates’ characters and integrity are remembered.
Gou’s campaign slogan: “For Taiwan, for the people, Terry Gou,” might be appealing, but I hope he does not lie or smear others for the sake of winning the nomination.
Huang Wei-ping is a former think tank researcher and a Kaohsiung resident.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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