Hon Hai Precision Industry chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) yesterday said he would establish Taiwan’s largest medical facility if elected president.
Gou told a news conference that he hopes to integrate Taiwan’s medical resources and set up new medical technology platforms.
The tycoon said he would donate 90 percent of his assets and invest most of them in healthcare development.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
While he is the wealthiest man in Taiwan, some of his family members have gotten cancer, making him realize that money cannot buy health and motivating him to improve medical care in Taiwan, he said.
Gou’s first wife, Serena Lin (林淑如), died from breast cancer in 2005 and his younger brother, Tony Gou (郭台成), died from leukemia in 2007.
People in the medical community have suggested that Taiwan establish a cancer center, Terry Gou said.
Taiwan has some of the best doctors and most advanced medical technology in the Chinese-speaking world, so the nation should become a regional hub for the prevention and treatment of cancer, he said.
Terry Gou, who on April 17 announced that he would participate in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) primary, said that if elected president, he would set up medical parks for cancer care in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung.
The cancer care facilities would allow doctors to “make a fortune” and could offer services that the National Health Insurance program does not cover, he added.
The facilities would also attract patients from other countries to Taiwan for treatment and prevent Taiwanese doctors from seeking opportunities overseas, he said.
Although Gou has been in the media spotlight since announcing his intention to run for president, former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), former New Taipei mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) and former Taipei County commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋) are also participating in the KMT primary, while some KMT supporters have been calling for popular Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) to also contend for the party’s nomination.
During a visit to the US earlier this month, Gou said he planned to resign as chairman of Hon Hai.
The markets are watching closely who will succeed him as chairman of the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronic products, even Apple — on whose board Gou is a member — the firm revealed in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Friday.
Asked about the news, Gou yesterday said he would not seek to be re-elected as chairman, even if he is not nominated to be the KMT’s presidential candidate.
The US plans to deploy thousands of drones in the Taiwan Strait in an operation called “Hellscape” to ensure that any attempt by China to invade Taiwan does not succeed, US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo told the Washington Post. In an article published on Monday, columnist Josh Rogin quoted Paparo as saying from the sidelines of the recent Shangri-La Dialogue defense forum in Singapore that the “Hellscape” strategy would involve deploying thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation, Washington and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was devised to deter
CHINESE THREAT: Twenty-two military aircraft and vessels were detected around Taiwan over 24 hours, including a drone that flew as close as 80km to Oluanpi China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) yesterday said that the Chinese man who drove a motorboat into a strategic river mouth in Taiwan on Sunday was acting on his own and would be punished upon his return to China. However, the National Security Bureau said it would not exclude any possibilities regarding the man’s motivations, including the Chinese government’s involvement. The man has been identified as a 60-year-old former Chinese navy captain surnamed Ruan (阮). Coast guard personnel on Sunday arrested Ruan in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) after his boat entered Tamsui River (淡水河). The boat was detected off the coast of
SHIN KONG SHENANIGANS: Eugene Wu is the father of Cynthia Wu, who was the TPP’s vice presidential candidate alongside Chairman Ko-Wen-je in January’s election Former Shin Kong Life Insurance Co chairman Eugene Wu (吳東進) and several other company executives are being investigated for alleged embezzlement and fraud resulting in corporate financial losses of about NT$150 million (US$4.63 million), New Taipei City prosecutors said yesterday. After being summoned to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning, Wu was listed as among 17 suspects facing charges of aggravated breach of trust, embezzlement and breaches of the Insurance Act (保險法). Wu was released on bail of NT$100 million yesterday. The case has received much attention with Eugene Wu being the eldest son of Wu Ho-su (吳火獅), who founded Shin
REPORT: In a number of cases, Taiwanese have been detained or interrogated, the MAC said, while warning that Chinese authorities can from next month confiscate cellphones Taiwanese who are traveling to China for religious, business or other non-political purposes can all be interrogated by Chinese national security officers due to new national security laws, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in a recent report. Starting next month, Taiwanese could also be asked to hand over their mobile phones and electronic devices for national security inspections when visiting China, the council said. Beijing has introduced a series of laws that were designed to impose heavier sanctions on people who are considered enemies of the state. An amendment to China’s Anti-Espionage Law, which took effect in July last year, expanded