Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) yesterday afternoon met with 1,000 supporters at the Syntrend Creative Park in Taipei to thank them for their support.
Yesterday was the first of many events that Gou plans to hold since announcing on Monday last week that he would not run as an independent candidate in next year’s presidential election.
In July, he lost the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential primary by 17 percentage points to Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜).
Photo provided by Terry Gou’s office
Gou started yesterday’s event by singing the Republic of China anthem, then several supporters took the stage to share the difficulties they encountered after throwing their support behind Gou.
One supporter, Chang Ta-hsing (張大興), said that he was often insulted by Han’s supporters, but that he stood his ground because he believed that Gou was the right choice for Taiwan.
Gou proposed substantial policies during the KMT primary, while Han rambled on about “conquering the universe” and “bringing prosperity to Kaohsiung,” Chang said.
“I truly thought that he was crazy and that Gou would win. Gou supporters are more knowledgeable and understand economics, but Han’s supporters — I don’t know,” Chang said.
Another Gou supporter, Hsu Chia-ming (徐家銘), said that his support for Gou was ridiculed by Han supporters.
“My father passed away during the primaries and when I shared the news on Facebook, Han supporters said my father passed away because he was angry about my political choices,” Hsu said, adding that others attacked him for being a person with disabilities.
Hsu and others invited Gou to sing Angela Chang’s (張韶涵) song Invisible Wings (隱形的翅膀), alluding to their hope that Gou would succeed in future presidential bids thanks to his “invisible supporters.”
Yesterday, Gou declined to speak to reporters, deputizing instead Yonglin Foundation deputy chief executive Evelyn Tsai (蔡沁瑜) to respond to media queries.
Gou thanked the KMT for approving his application to leave the party, Tsai said.
Gou appreciated KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) invitation for him to remain in the party, but, being out, he felt unfettered and free to serve the Republic of China in his own way, she said.
Gou has always been open to helping those who share his ideals and he would support anyone from any party as long as they satisfied those prerequisites, Tsai added.
Gou and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) had always been on amicable terms and would continue to work together, Tsai said, adding that “both sides will be working as one team.”
Asked whether Gou would support Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) if Wang wanted to run as the People First Party presidential candidate, Tsai told reporters that Gou has said that he would support Wang regardless of his decision and that he has not changed his mind about that.
Additional reporting by CNA
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