Terry Gou said at Foxconn’s annual general meeting today that he is leaving the electronics manufacturing giant as he prepares to run for president of Taiwan. Gou, who founded Foxconn (also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.) 45 years ago and is also its biggest shareholder, will remain on the company’s board. Young Liu, the head of Foxconn’s semiconductor business, will succeed him as chairman and the company will also transition to a committee-directed management structure.
Gou officially announced in April his plans to resign as chairman to focus on his campaign for the nomination of Taiwan’s opposition party, the Kuomintang. If he succeeds against other KMT candidates, including Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-Yu, Gou will be challenging President Tsai Ing-wen, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, for the election next January.
Foxconn (one of Apple’s biggest suppliers) is China’s largest private employer, and the Kuomintang supports a closer relationship with the Chinese government, despite its stance that Taiwan is a rogue province. Gou’s ties to the country will be scrutinized during the campaign as he opposes Tsai and the DPP, advocates of Taiwan’s sovereignty. The issue is especially fraught after the recent large-scale demonstrations in Hong Kong against a bill that would have allowed extradition to China.
Last month Gou, who has never held political office, tried to assuage critics by saying he has no plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping after the head of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council of the Executive Yuan, Chen Ming-Tung, claimed Gou had said Taiwan was part of China. Gou also said that during a recent meeting with Donald Trump he had asked the president of the United States to work on improving the relationship between all three countries.
Gou’s campaign has also been marred by other controversies, such as when he said “the harem should not meddle in politics” after his wife, Delia Tseng, objected to his candidacy. Gou later apologized for the remark.
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