Foxconn Founder Terry Gou to Run for Taiwan Presidency Again

    Photo: Reuters [via Al Jazeera]

    The Facts

    • On Wednesday, Terry Gou, founder of major Apple supplier Foxconn, announced he will run to be nominated by Taiwan's traditionally more pro-China and main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT) in the island's 2024 presidential election.

    • Speaking at a hotel on his return from a week-long trip to the US, Gou argued that the only way to avoid war with China is to ease US-China tensions and remove the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) from office.


    The Spin

    Anti-China narrative

    Due to its unrealistic policy platform, the KMT is a divided party with little hope of taking the presidency next year. Because the party faces internal friction between potential nominees, its delusional belief that playing nice with the PRC will help avoid an invasion will only worsen its standing in the polls.

    Pro-China narrative

    As the KMT understands, the recently growing tensions between Taiwan and China were caused by radical separatists and foreign influence. The DPP actively hides from its people the historical and cultural ties between the island and the mainland, which is why voting them into power will only lead to the destruction younger generations have been taught to ignore.

    Nerd narrative

    There is a 49% chance that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will win the 2024 presidential election in Taiwan, according to the Metaculus prediction community.


    Sign up to our daily newsletter