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
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
RSS