Vice President William Lai’s (賴清德) household has the fewest real-estate assets of the four major presidential candidates running in January’s election, while Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) household has the most, Control Yuan data showed.
The data, published on the Control Yuan’s Web site, showed that Gou and his family reported ownership of six properties in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), while Lai in December last year reported owning one 455m2 property in Tainan’s Anping District (安平). The property was purchased in March 2021 and valued at NT$32.8 million (US$1.01 million). Lai’s wife, Wu Mei-ju (吳玫如), was reported as not having any property in her name.
Taiwan People’s Party Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) reported owning one 240m2 property in Hsinchu City, while his wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), reported owning a 198m2 property in Taipei’s Daan District (大安), as well as an inherited share of a property in Penghu County’s Magong City.
Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Taipei Times
The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), reported owning a 43m2 property in Chiayi County’s Puzih City. His wife, Jen Mei-ling (任美鈴), reported owning a 188m2 property in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正), as well as an inherited 330m2 property in New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District (新莊).
Financial analyst Ho Shih-chang (何世昌) said that since the first democratic presidential elections were held in Taiwan, the majority of the country’s presidential candidates have had strong financial backgrounds.
Voters are not surprised by candidates’ personal wealth, but hope that this would not make them incapable of understanding the financial concerns of the public, including tax reforms, financial subsidies and social housing, he said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
“However, so far the four candidates have proposed few housing-related policies, and it might be necessary to wait until closer to election day to see where they stand on such issues,” he said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
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