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it might be illegal for individuals to fund government projects themselves, Gou said many laws are unreasonable and outdated.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.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
RSS