Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) would again seek the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) nomination for president, he told a news conference marking his return from the US at a hotel near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday.
The business tycoon was a contender for the 2019 KMT presidential nomination, but lost to former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜). He quit the party the same year.
Taiwan can only avoid war with China by reducing tensions between the US and China, and voting the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) out of office, he said.
Photo: Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Reuters
“We must honestly tell young people that it is dangerous to vote for the DPP, which exalts Taiwanese independence, and hates and opposes China,” he was quoted by Reuters as saying. “Peace is not taken for granted, and people need to make the correct choice.”
Gou apologized for leaving the KMT and pledged to support New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) — widely presumed to be planning to run for the presidency — if Hou wins the party nomination.
The KMT is to select its presidential and legislative candidates via a special committee consisting of party leaders, it announced on March 23.
Reached for comment, Hou said that protecting the nation and loving its people are the most important things in his life, adding that solidarity is needed for the good of the nation.
Hou was speaking at a news event following a mayoral visit to the light rail station in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水)
Asked whether he would run for president, Hou said his top priority remains to lead the New Taipei City Government, as city residents have been suffering from rising prices of daily necessities.
KMT caucus whip William Tseng (曾銘宗) said Gou’s remark that the DPP must be voted out of office and his apology are positive signs.
The party, even united, could still lose next year’s election and a disunited party would be doomed, he said, adding that the KMT must reach out to swing voters.
The creation of the KMT special committee to nominate candidates was a move to avoid disunity that could arise from primary elections, he said.
The inclusion of Gou in the national polls is a matter for the KMT Central Standing Committee to decide, which has the full support of KMT lawmakers, he said.
Citing his own sources, Tseng said the KMT headquarters has initiated measures following the announcement of Gou’s presidential bid to ensure that the nomination would be fair and transparent.
KMT legislative caucus secretary-general Hsieh Yi-fong (謝衣?) — the first in the party to declare support for Hou’s presumed presidential bid — said she remains “cautiously optimistic” that Hou is the most likely contender to be chosen by the party organization.
“The DPP absolutely viewed Hou as the strongest opponent it could face in the election,” she said.
Hou is a “pragmatic and drama-free” candidate for next year’s presidential election, KMT legislative caucus whip Lin Wei-chou (林為洲) said.
DPP spokeswoman Michelle Lin (林楚茵) said that Gou’s entry into the race reflects Hou’s falling approval ratings and a surge in public criticism of his stance toward China.
The KMT presidential nomination is likely to devolve into a political affray, as shown by the rivalry between KMT Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) and Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) to become the party’s legislative candidates, she said.
Gou has a long way to go in his presidential bid, and that is why he targeted the DPP using colorful language, Michelle Lin said, adding that the DPP does not respond to unreasonable remarks.
While Gou is popular with young people and those who vote on economic issues, the KMT has gone backward in democracy by its decision to nominate candidates without a vote, DPP Legislator Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑) said.
Peace would not be achieved through Gou’s platform of avoiding war by improving US-China relations and voting out the DPP, Hsu said, adding that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has shown the world how authoritarian states operate.
Gou’s peace proposal would require him to “pay a visit to Beijing as a tributary vassal and praise China’s pandemic response, as former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) did recently,” he said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
BUILDUP: US General Dan Caine said Chinese military maneuvers are not routine exercises, but instead are ‘rehearsals for a forced unification’ with Taiwan China poses an increasingly aggressive threat to the US and deterring Beijing is the Pentagon’s top regional priority amid its rapid military buildup and invasion drills near Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during an oversight hearing with US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it could derail
COMPLIANCE: The SEF has helped more than 3,900 Chinese verify documents, indicating that most of those affected are willing to cooperate, the MAC said More than 3,100 spouses from China have submitted proof of renunciation of their Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The National Immigration Agency has since April issued notices to spouses to submit proof that they had renounced their Chinese household registration on or before June 30 or their Taiwanese household registration would be revoked. People having difficulties obtaining such a document can request an extension of the deadline or submit a written affidavit in lieu of it. The council said it would hold a briefing at 2:30pm on Friday at the immigration agency’s Taichung office in cooperation with the
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
RSS