Hon Hai Precision Industry (鴻海集團) chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) yesterday apologized after his dismissal of his wife’s opposition to his presidential bid with the remark “the harem should not meddle in politics” drew criticism.
“I would like to solemnly apologize to those who feel offended [by what I said]. I have used an inappropriate metaphor. I would like to apologize for that,” he said.
Gou on Wednesday last week made a surprise announcement that he plans to run for president after declaring the sea goddess Matsu urged him to do so.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
The plain-speaking 69-year-old tycoon is seeking the nomination of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for the January next year polls.
However, Gou’s wife, Delia Tseng (曾馨瑩), appeared to be none too happy with his foray into politics.
In a series of TV interviews aired on Thursday, Gou said Tseng had left home after he made the announcement.
“My biggest challenge now is my wife who has already left home,” he told local channel ECB.
In response to media queries for his reaction to his wife’s departure, Gou was quoted by local Chinese-language media as saying that “the harem should not meddle in politics.”
Those comments sparked a backlash on social media.
“Who does chairman Gou think he is? If he wants to be an emperor he should go to China to replace [Chinese President] Xi Jinping (習近平),” feminist campaigner and Social Democratic Party convener Fan Yun (范雲) wrote on Facebook.
“When you wanted to run, you said a woman [Matsu] asked you to, now you are telling women not to meddle in politics,” she added, addressing Gou.
Some Internet users offended by the remarks urged Gou to withdraw from the presidential race.
“How many women are in chairman Gou’s harem? He wants to be an emperor in the Republic of China. He should withdraw,” one post read.
TVBS has reported that Tseng yesterday returned to Taiwan from a trip to Japan, while SETV quoted Gou as saying that he would be home welcoming her back.
Gou later said that Tseng had returned home.
Known for his aggressive dealmaking and often mercurial public appearances, Gou has been snapping up investments from Japan to India in a bid to diversify from electronics assembly.
The bulk of Gou’s investments are in China, employing more than 1 million workers in the country where cheap labor helped fuel his company’s meteoric rise.
Gou was born in 1950 in Taipei to parents who had fled the Chinese Communist Party’s victory in the Chinese Civil War.
He studied shipping management in college while supporting himself with part-time jobs.
He started his business in 1974 making television parts with an investment of NT$100,000 from his mother and later began producing computer parts — eventually growing to become the world’s biggest contract electronics maker.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS