Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday said that he would continue to try and communicate with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) about collaborating in next year’s presidential election after the tycoon announced on Thursday that he would quit the party.
“I still hope we can communicate and it is always good to not give up until the last minute,” Wu said at a Mid-Autumn Festival event in Taipei for Taiwanese businesspeople working in China, when asked by reporters about the possibility of Gou launching an independent presidential bid.
Asked if Gou was willing to talk, Wu said that he could not say anything more.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
“Harmony is always better, but if we cannot change things, we must bravely accept them,” Wu said.
The KMT should perhaps show more sincerity and explain to Gou about the importance of serving a greater cause, former KMT chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) told reporters at the event.
“There are still two days, or 48 hours [until the deadline to register as an independent presidential candidate], and we should keep trying,” she said.
“We should also reflect on some of the things [Gou] said in his statement and ask if some are true and if there are still a lot of reforms to be done,” she added.
During the event, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the KMT’s presidential candidate, hugged former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on stage in an apparent bid to repair relations after Han’s campaign team cut short Ma’s speech on Sunday last week at a rally in New Taipei City.
Han yesterday urged Taiwanese entrepreneurs to lobby for support for the KMT and to return home to vote on election day, Jan. 11.
“Taiwan is in a dangerous situation and the people are poor” under President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration, he said.
Under such circumstances, every Chinese person should be responsible for protecting the Republic of China (ROC), he said.
Meanwhile, asked again if Gou plans to run as an independent, his office yesterday said that he has not yet made any plans to announce such a bid.
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