Syntrend chairman Gou Shou-cheng (郭守正), the eldest son of Hon Hai Group chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘), met with representatives of the Taipei City Government’s Department of Finance yesterday, as the corporation’s standoff with the administration continues.
The corporation and city government have been at odds since Hon Hai Group, of which Syntrend is a subsidiary, took out front-page advertisements in six major Chinese-language newspapers on Monday in which it said it would cease construction on the Syntrend Creative Park unless the city publicized all documents relating to its bid for the development project and publicly affirmed the bid’s legality.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) responded by calling the corporation’s actions “arrogant” and refused to acquiesce.
Following yesterday’s meeting, Guo said discussions were smooth but declined to add details.
Department of Finance spokesman Yu Shih-ming (游適銘) said that while the meeting on contract adherence was scheduled prior to this week’s controversy, the department had used the meeting to express its hope that construction could be resumed on the Syntrend Creative Park.
Yesterday was the first time Gou Shou-cheng had taken part in a meeting on contract adherence with department officials, Hon Hai interim spokesman Chu Wen-min (朱文敏) said.
Meanwhile, Ko held a meeting with executives of 14 land development companies yesterday morning.
“There is no need to spend NT$6 million [US$191,00] on newspaper advertisements,” Ko said, adding that the Taipei City Government is “an open government” to which firms are welcome to bring their concerns.
Asked by reporters whether he would sit down with Terry Gou over the matter, Ko said he would have to “think about it” before agreeing to a meeting.
“It would be better to wait until after my anger has subsided [to hold a meeting],” Ko added.
He declined to comment on whether the city would fine Hon Hai for ceasing construction.
Under the terms of the contract, the city lacks the power to fine or otherwise compel the corporation to resume construction, Yu said.
He said that the main construction has already been completed, with only a controversial skybridge designed to prevent the complex from siphoning off business from the neighboring Guanghua Digital Plaza unfinished.
Construction on the skybridge began last month following repeated protests from Guanghua store owners, who questioned the sincerity of Hon Hai’s promise to build the skybridge.
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