Star politician Han Kuo-yu or Foxconn leader Terry Gou could lead the country — if they can convince people they don’t work for China.
Foreign Policy
Date: April 19, 2019
By: Chiu-Ti Jansen
MT PLEASANT, WI – JUNE 28: U.S. President Donald Trump (L) speaks as Foxconn CEO Terry Gou (C) and U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) watch at the groundbreaking for the Foxconn Technology Group computer screen plant on June 28, 2018 in Mt Pleasant, Wisconsin. Foxconn has committed to build a $10 billion plant in what it has named the Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park, and to creating 13,000 Wisconsin jobs. (Photo by Andy Manis/Getty Images)
Forget Pete Buttigieg. The mayor with a real shot at a presidency isn’t in Indiana but Taiwan. Han Kuo-yu, the newly minted Kuomintang (KMT) mayor of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, attracted fervent crowds on his tour of the United States this month. He was topping the polls for the 2020 presidency at home, where political watchers saw a U.S. grand tour to be a precursor to a presidential campaign.
But just as Han’s momentum seemed unstoppable, Terry Gou, Taiwan’s richest man with an estimated net worth of $7.6 billion, announced that he would join the KMT’s presidential primary. Since Han has indicated that he won’t join the primary, the KMT will have to decide between a coronation for Gou or resorting to a special procedure for enlisting Han.
Gou is taking a page out of the playbook of Donald Trump, with whom he maintains a personal relationship, and was reportedly inspired by Han’s surprising electoral victory in Kaohsiung in November 2018. If either Gou or Han leads the KMT to a victory at the presidential election, it could have big implications for Taiwan’s relationship with China—and with the United States. But will the intricate Gou-Han dynamic give the incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) a window to curtail a resurgent KMT?
Han is good at selling pineapples—one of his city’s main exports—while Gou wants to sell semiconductor chips. Han is an expert in mobilizing support on the ground, while Gou commands from the top down.
Han’s welcome parties in Boston, Los Angeles, and San Jose, jammed with his fans and reporters from Taiwan and the United States, ran like political rallies with hundreds of supporters chanting, “Han Kuo-yu! Han Kuo-yu! Run for president and save Taiwan!” Han asked the audience to return home to cast their votes because the 2020 presidential election is “a matter of life and death” for Taiwan. [FULL STORY]
