Terry Gou, a 72-year-old millionaire and the creator of Foxconn, which is responsible for manufacturing iPhones, is the newest candidate to enter the contest for the presidency of Taiwan.
Mr. Gou is a magnetic entrepreneur who rose from humble beginnings to amass a fortune, a large amount of cash, and significant name recognition. According to observers in Taipei, Mr. Gou would have a decent chance of winning the election if he was the only candidate running against the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which is currently in power. However, he is not.
Instead, the opposition vote in the presidential election that will take place in January 2024 will be split three ways due to his candidacy.
When there are already two opposition candidates fighting to overthrow the incumbent party in a presidential system that awards all of the seats to the winner, adding a third candidate to the mix is probably not going to make the process any simpler.
The situation is a textbook illustration of the "law of holes," which states that if you find yourself in a hole from which it is difficult to escape, the first step you should take is to cease digging. It would appear like Taiwan's opposition is digging its own electoral grave at this point.
On Monday, Mr. Guo made his candidacy for an election that will have significant repercussions well beyond the borders of Taiwan public, and this is exactly what happened. An election for a new president will take place on the self-governing island in the midst of escalating threats from Beijing and an increasingly militarized region.
Mr. Gou, much like another charismatic billionaire on the other side of the Pacific, initially tried to have himself nominated as a candidate for Taiwan's most prominent center-right party, the old nationalist KMT (Kuomintang). In contrast to his success in the United States, he was unsuccessful.
As a result of the KMT's selection of another candidate, Mr. Gou resigned from the party. However, Mr. Gou's predicament is not only dependent on the KMT.
The Taiwan People's Party (TPP) is another opposition party in Taiwan, and Ko Wen-je, another popular populist, serves as the party's leader. Mr. Ko served as the mayor of Taipei city in the past, and he is now in second place in the polls. The younger generation of Taiwanese voters is very favorable to him.
It's not just his money and successful business career that make Mr. Gou such an attractive prospect. It is based on his job experience both in China and with the country.
Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai industries, is the largest electronics manufacturer in the world since it was the first company to pioneer the idea of merging the engineering know-how of Taiwan with the trained labor of China. Mr. Gou established massive industrial campuses in the south of China in the 1980s and 1990s, and he hired tens of thousands of young Chinese people to work there.
Because the strategy was so effective, he was finally able to convince Apple to contract out a significant portion of the production of MacBooks and iPhones to Foxconn. Because of this, Foxconn became the most successful company in Taiwan, and Mr. Gou became one of the wealthiest businesspeople in the country.
Now, Mr. Gou thinks that he can use the experience he gained investing and working in China to safeguard Taiwan's safety. Terry Gou has stated that one of his goals is to keep Taiwan from "becoming another Ukraine." In his announcement that he was running for office, he stated that he would lead Taiwan "back from the abyss of war with China."
He is not the only one who views the danger posed by China as becoming more severe as time goes on. Over the course of the past year, Beijing has significantly ramped up its military actions in the region surrounding the island.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) published a professionally produced propaganda video the previous week, in which it showed Chinese troops engaging in what appeared to be training for an invasion of the beaches of Taiwan.
Mr. Gou is a magnetic entrepreneur who rose from humble beginnings to amass a fortune, a large amount of cash, and significant name recognition. According to observers in Taipei, Mr. Gou would have a decent chance of winning the election if he was the only candidate running against the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which is currently in power. However, he is not.
Instead, the opposition vote in the presidential election that will take place in January 2024 will be split three ways due to his candidacy.
When there are already two opposition candidates fighting to overthrow the incumbent party in a presidential system that awards all of the seats to the winner, adding a third candidate to the mix is probably not going to make the process any simpler.
The situation is a textbook illustration of the "law of holes," which states that if you find yourself in a hole from which it is difficult to escape, the first step you should take is to cease digging. It would appear like Taiwan's opposition is digging its own electoral grave at this point.
On Monday, Mr. Guo made his candidacy for an election that will have significant repercussions well beyond the borders of Taiwan public, and this is exactly what happened. An election for a new president will take place on the self-governing island in the midst of escalating threats from Beijing and an increasingly militarized region.
Mr. Gou, much like another charismatic billionaire on the other side of the Pacific, initially tried to have himself nominated as a candidate for Taiwan's most prominent center-right party, the old nationalist KMT (Kuomintang). In contrast to his success in the United States, he was unsuccessful.
As a result of the KMT's selection of another candidate, Mr. Gou resigned from the party. However, Mr. Gou's predicament is not only dependent on the KMT.
The Taiwan People's Party (TPP) is another opposition party in Taiwan, and Ko Wen-je, another popular populist, serves as the party's leader. Mr. Ko served as the mayor of Taipei city in the past, and he is now in second place in the polls. The younger generation of Taiwanese voters is very favorable to him.
It's not just his money and successful business career that make Mr. Gou such an attractive prospect. It is based on his job experience both in China and with the country.
Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai industries, is the largest electronics manufacturer in the world since it was the first company to pioneer the idea of merging the engineering know-how of Taiwan with the trained labor of China. Mr. Gou established massive industrial campuses in the south of China in the 1980s and 1990s, and he hired tens of thousands of young Chinese people to work there.
Because the strategy was so effective, he was finally able to convince Apple to contract out a significant portion of the production of MacBooks and iPhones to Foxconn. Because of this, Foxconn became the most successful company in Taiwan, and Mr. Gou became one of the wealthiest businesspeople in the country.
Now, Mr. Gou thinks that he can use the experience he gained investing and working in China to safeguard Taiwan's safety. Terry Gou has stated that one of his goals is to keep Taiwan from "becoming another Ukraine." In his announcement that he was running for office, he stated that he would lead Taiwan "back from the abyss of war with China."
He is not the only one who views the danger posed by China as becoming more severe as time goes on. Over the course of the past year, Beijing has significantly ramped up its military actions in the region surrounding the island.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) published a professionally produced propaganda video the previous week, in which it showed Chinese troops engaging in what appeared to be training for an invasion of the beaches of Taiwan.
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