After a backlash on Facebook, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) yesterday decided to cancel a meeting with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), said Evelyn Tsai (蔡沁瑜), deputy chief executive of Gou’s Yonglin Foundation.
As Gou now has no party affiliation, it is possible for him to meet with old friends that he would have otherwise not able to meet, Tsai told a morning news conference.
Gou last month quit the KMT and dropped his idea of running as an independent presidential candidate after voicing disappointment at what he said was the party’s culture of reactionary politics and backroom horse-trading.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan People’s Party
“Gou’s main goal is to gain more influence in the Legislative Yuan, so sitting down and chatting about policies that he wants to push is not wrong,” Tsai said.
The announcement that Gou and Wu had arranged to meet led 500 people to withdraw from Gou’s Facebook fan group, she said.
“If a meeting with Wu arouses negative feelings in my supporters, then I will cancel it if there is no specific issue to talk about,” Tsai quoted Gou as saying.
When asked if Gou will meet with Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), who he lost to in the KMT presidential primary, Tsai said that there is no plan at the moment.
Gou does not have a bone to pick with the KMT presidential candidate, but some media have been favoring Han since the primary and made false reports about Gou, she said.
Han has been unable to give a clear explanation of his stance toward China, and until such issues are resolved, Gou’s office will not consider the meeting a top priority, she added.
Asked if such conditions were too harsh for Han’s office to accommodate, Tsai said: “Harsh how? There is no need for Gou to meet Han. If Han’s team is not able to address the problems, then there is no need for them to meet.”
A “nonpartisan citizen” Gou now has no responsibility to unite the pan-blue camp and is willing to support anyone who shares his vision regardless of their party affiliation, she said.
However, Gou will not pose for photographs with people who promote Taiwan’s independence, Tsai added.
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