Foxconn founder Terry Gou has withdrawn his bid to become the next president of Taiwan, issuing a somewhat opaque statement which included the phrase “stop, reset, restart.”
Whatever Gou’s exact meaning, it seems that he is out of the race for good this time around – which will likely come as a relief to Apple execs concerned about potential retaliation by China …
Terry Gou withdraws Taiwanese presidential bid
The Information reports.
Terry Gou, the founder of Foxconn, the world’s largest assembler of iPhones, dropped out of the race to be Taiwan’s next president, hours before a deadline to formally register candidacy for the election on Friday […]
Gou first toyed with the idea of running for the president of Taiwan in 2019, and resigned as Foxconn’s chairman, although he stayed as a director of the board at the time. That bid for Taiwan’s top job eventually failed. In September, Gou resigned from his board directorship and subsequently announced his intention to run for the upcoming presidential election, which is slated in early January.
Forbes translated Gou’s statement.
“Those who achieve great things do not mind their reputation,” the rags-to-riches billionaire said in a statement Friday. “Terry Gou may be forgotten by people, but for the future of the Republic of China, choosing to sacrifice is his way of dedicating all his love to his homeland,” he said, referring to Taiwan’s formal name.
Gou added: “Though dropped out, the ambition remains; STOP, RESET, RESTART. We must win! Alright? Complete the transfer of political power and change Taiwan. God bless the Republic of China!”
Gou had been running in 4th place, and an attempt to form an alliance with the two main opposition parties fell apart in a chaotic press conference, per Nikkei Asia.
Gou had tried to broker talks between the Kuomintang and Taiwan People’s Party to run together against the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, but those efforts imploded late Thursday after an angry showdown between leaders from the opposition parties in front of reporters and shown live on Taiwanese television channels at a conference room in a Taipei hotel.
A likely relief to Apple
Apple had already found itself impacted by a diplomatic row between the US and China, but Gou’s presidential bid had raised the prospect of being caught up in politics between China and Taiwan.
Gou was running in support of Taiwanese independence, whose ownership is claimed by China. The past couple of years have seen increasing concern over the possibility of China invading Taiwan.
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As the deadline for the formal registration of Gou’s presidential bid approached, the Chinese government announced that it was investigating Foxconn for possible breaches of the law regarding both taxes and land use.
It was widely assumed this was intended to intimidate Gou, and that Foxconn would be penalized unless he dropped out. While Gou had resigned his chairmanship of the company, he remains its largest shareholder.
Any disruption to Foxconn operations could prove disastrous for Apple. The company assembles the vast majority of iPhones, with an estimated 80% of Apple’s global supply coming from a single mega-plant in Zhengzhou, colloquially known as iPhone City.
Photo: TangChi Lee/Unsplash
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