Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) bid for the presidency has ended, but his influence on national politics is to continue as two aides and a friend were added yesterday to the People First Party’s (PFP) list of legislator-at-large nominees.
The party’s top nominees, from No. 1 to No. 10, are League for Persons with Disabilities secretary-general Eva Teng (滕西華), PFP Legislator Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞), United Microelectronics Co honorary vice chairman John Hsuan (宣明智), Yonglin Foundation chief executive director Amanda Liu (劉宥彤), PFP Legislator Chen Yi-chieh (陳怡潔), former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Chang Sho-wen (張碩文), former Mackay Memorial Hospital vice president Shih Shou-chuan (施壽全), retired Armed Forces Reserve Command major general Lee Hai-tung (李海同), Yonglin Foundation deputy executive director Evelyn Tsai (蔡沁瑜) and Kao Han-nan (高翰男), an Aborigine with a doctorate in music.
Nominees No. 11 to No. 22 include those of Hakka ancestry, travel industry representatives, academics and young entrepreneurs.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Tsai and Liu work at the Yonglin Foundation, which was created by Gou to carry out educational initiatives nationwide.
Hsuan, whom PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) called the “godfather of Taiwan’s high-tech industry,” is one of Gou’s close friends.
Asked why he agreed to be nominated, Hsuan said that Gou’s participation in the KMT presidential primary played a major role in his decision.
“Gou told me that he has dedicated himself to the nation and asked me what I have done for Taiwan,” Hsuan said.
“We both feel that politics is the greatest public good, and that it should be promoted through good policies. Good policies must be introduced at the Legislative Yuan, where legislators propose what they want the government to do. This is why I agreed to be nominated,” he added.
Asked if he spoke on Gou’s behalf, Hsuan said that he spoke for himself and for the nation’s tech industry, adding that he hopes that Taiwan’s advancements in biotechnology, information and communications technology, and other industries can be marketed worldwide, and that the government will use technology to improve the nation’s future.
Liu said that she would represent Gou’s will and the will of the people.
She would speak up for start-ups and focus on education, Liu said, adding that these issues are not necessarily on Gou’s agenda.
Gou had left his mark by making full government subsidies for children aged six and younger one of his key campaign promises, Liu said, adding that the public agrees with that pledge.
Teng — an advocate for healthcare, long-term care issues and people with physical challenges — said she always considered politics a grinding business, but added that she has dealt with politicians as a lobbyist for 25 years.
“As a social worker, I realize that the difficulties facing socially disadvantaged people cannot be solved by themselves alone,” Teng said. “They need to be solved through regulation and policy changes. People say we are only doing things for them, but everything that we have done over the past two decades is for us and our families’ futures.”
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