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Wednesday, April 17, 2019, 16:36
Foxconn's Terry Gou announces Taiwan leadership bid
By Bloomberg
Wednesday, April 17, 2019, 16:36 By Bloomberg

Terry Gou, chairman of Foxconn Technology Group, attends a company event in Taipei, Taiwan, on Feb 2, 2019.  (ASHLEY PON / BLOOMBERG)

Foxconn founder Terry Gou announced on Wednesday that he planned to run in the Taiwan’s 2020 election.

The Taiwanese billionaire said he would seek the nomination of the Kuomintang party in next year’s election. The party is expected to nominate a candidate in the coming weeks.

 “I will participate in the KMT primary,” he told reporters in Taipei. “If I win I will run in 2020 on behalf of the KMT.” He said his core values were “peace, stability, economy and future.”

Today, Mazu told me I should be inspired by her to do good things for people who are suffering, to give young people hope, to support cross-Straits peace. 

Terry Gou 

Foxconn founder

Earlier in the day, Gou claimed a divine endorsement: support of the Chinese sea goddess Mazu, who he said had encouraged him to “come forward” to support peace across the Taiwan Straits.

The remarks following a visit to a New Taipei City temple came a day after he said he was considering a challenge to Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen, whose Democratic Progressive Party advocates “Taiwan independence”.

“Today, Mazu told me I should be inspired by her to do good things for people who are suffering, to give young people hope, to support cross-Straits peace,” Gou said, adding that the goddess had recently spoken to him in a dream. “I came to ask Mazu and she told me to come forward.” Gou visited another temple housing Chinese deity Guan Yu.

The 68-year-old Gou has amassed a personal fortune of about $4.4 billion building consumer electronics on which other companies can slap their brand, including Apple Inc and Sony Corp. Foxconn Technology Group -- the main assembler of iPhones -- was among the first Taiwanese companies to build factories on the Chinese mainland to tap lower wages and land costs.

Gou has no clear business successor, and the announcement raises questions about how the company will be run. Reuters reported on Monday that he plans to step down as chairman of Foxconn “in the coming months”. Louis Woo, his special assistant, later told Bloomberg that while Gou would be stepping back from operations and focusing on strategy, he didn’t plan to relinquish his chairmanship.

Divine Support

Gou is the third-richest person in Taiwan and the 442nd in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His resources could help him stand out among a field of potential challengers that includes former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu and former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng. Han Kuo-yu and Ko Wen-je, the outspoken mayors of Kaohsiung and Taipei, respectively, also haven’t ruled out a run.

Wednesday’s Mazu temple visit, in which Gou spoke the Taiwanese dialect, also demonstrated his retail political skill.

Gou is known to be religious, and Foxconn factories all over the world have totems of Tudi Gong, the Chinese god of local land. At the Guan Yu temple on Wednesday, he said he was waiting for the gods to conduct polls on whether he should run.

The sea goddess Mazu is believed to protect fishermen and sailors and is worshiped by Taoists and Buddhists. Temples to the deity can be found throughout East Asia, including both Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

“Mazu said the economy would improve following peace and prosperity,” Gou said, adding that he believed the goddess had long supported his business success.

In this June 28, 2018 file photo, President Donald Trump, center, along with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, left, and Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou participate in a groundbreaking event for the new Foxconn facility in Mt. Pleasant, Wisconsin. Foxconn said on Jan 30, 2019 that it is reconsidering plans to make advanced liquid crystal display panels at the US$10-billion Wisconsin campus. (EVAN VUCCI / AP)

Potential Liabilities

Gou’s wealth and fame could bring attention to his campaign, but they could also present liabilities.

He’s faced criticism in Taiwan as one of the first outside executives to exploit lower wages and land costs on the mainland. And the success of Foxconn’s Zhengzhou facility in central China, which pushes out more than 100 million iPhones each year, has been marred by controversy, as employee suicides led to scrutiny of working conditions.

Gou was also at the center of a plant project that could be a potential source of Democratic attacks against US President Donald Trump as he faces re-election. Trump and Gou once touted Foxconn’s investment in a $10 billion factory in the swing state of Wisconsin as proof that manufacturing jobs were returning to America. But Foxconn has shifted the facility’s focus to research, slashing the number of blue-collar positions available.


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