Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) has reportedly been fined 20,000 yuan (US$2,816) in China by Wuhan authorities for misreporting taxes amid a Chinese probe into the company founded by independent presidential candidate Terry Gou (郭台銘).
Chinese financial information service Eastmoney.com earlier this week reported that Wuhan tax authorities had last month fined the company.
Hon Hai was fined 20,000 yuan for reporting temporary personnel as full-time researchers, eight in 2021 and 15 people last year, Eastmoney.com reported.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Chinese tax authorities last month began a probe into Hon Hai’s operations in China, where the company employs hundreds of thousands of people.
Without providing many details on the investigation, the Global Times quoted an expert as saying that Taiwan-funded enterprises should assume social responsibility and “play a positive role in promoting the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.”
The probe was largely interpreted as intended to exert political pressure on Gou, who months earlier announced his intention to run for president in January’s election.
Since the probe was announced, Gou has only appeared publicly three times and has declined interviews.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said that the fine was relatively light because the probe had already achieved its intended effect, with Gou likely to drop out of the race.
Chinese authorities also likely do not want to scare off foreign investment any further, as the nation’s economy is already struggling, Hung said.
However, Gou’s campaign office at noon announced that his running mate, actress Tammy Lai (賴佩霞), would go to the Central Election Commission in Taipei to pick up a presidential candidate registration form.
Lai told reporters outside the commission that she was doing what needed to be done.
She smiled, but did not answer when asked whether Gou would seek the presidency to the end.
Separately, when asked the same question, Gou’s campaign office spokesman Huang Shih-hsiu (黃士修) said: “Anything can happen.”
Additional reporting by Wu Liang-yi
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