Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) will be key to the party winning next year’s presidential election, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) said yesterday, adding that he has never considered running as an independent.
Gou was asked about his presidential bid and whom he might choose as a running mate during an interview with reporters after he attended an event in Taipei to mark the 10th anniversary of National Taiwan University’s Tai Cheng Stem Cell Therapy Center.
Asked if he would consider Wang or former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) for vice president, Gou said Wang was one of the party’s essential assets and key to winning next year’s election.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
If the KMT became divided and decided not to utilize Wang’s resources, “every candidate would be hugely impacted,” he said.
Wang and he share the same beliefs, have been good friends for years and have a rapport that goes beyond relationships built purely on political cooperation, he said.
He joined the party primary knowing he and Wang would each work for their goals on their own, but at a certain stage, to ensure a KMT victory, “we can collaborate and any form of cooperation is possible,” Gou said.
Asked if he would run as an independent if he loses the primary, Gou said he had “never thought about it,” and he is determined to help the KMT win the election.
Speaking at the center’s event, Gou reiterated that if elected president, he would have the government pay for childcare for all children aged six or under.
Funding would initially come from imposing a wealth tax on the “ultra rich” and setting up an investment fund with a 4 percent return rate, he said.
It would also be funded by Taiwan’s healthcare industry, which he plans to enhance using new technologies, he said, adding that if the childcare policy ran short of funds, he would make up the difference out of his own pockets.
When a reporter said that it might be illegal for individuals to fund government projects themselves, Gou said many laws are unreasonable and outdated.
“I have spent my whole life fighting for breakthroughs. If there are no innovations and breakthroughs, and people simply follow existing laws, to be honest there would be little point for me to become president. I want to be a president who brings change,” he said.
Asked about Gou’s comments on possible collaboration, Wang said he respects Gou’s opinion, but there was no point talking now about his being Gou’s running mate because it is a hypothetical question.
“As I have previously said, I will run [for president] to the end,” Wang said.
While Wang announced on June 6 that he would not take part in the KMT primary, he has not dropped out of the presidential race or said that he would run as an independent.
He will watch the way things unfold, the former legislative speaker said yesterday.
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