Foxconn founder muddies Taiwan election race with presidency bid

investing.com:

By Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee

TAIPEI (Reuters) — Billionaire Foxconn founder Terry Gou's decision to stand for Taiwan's presidency has thrown a spanner in the works of a January election expected to return the ruling party for a third term at a time of soaring tensions with China.

His wildcard entry as an independent candidate has been criticised by the main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), which fears Gou could split its vote, and is being closely watched by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in case he does against expectations unite their challengers.

Gou, who stepped down as chairman of major Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) supplier Foxconn in 2019 but remains one of Taiwan's most recognised figures internationally, has said he wants to «integrate» opposition forces to «take down» the DPP who he believes is risking war with China.

The election comes at a time that relations between Taipei and Beijing, which claims the island as its own and has refused to rule out seizing it by force, have soured. Beijing has staged multiple military drills around the island in recent years, drawing condemnation from the United States and its allies.

The DPP and their candidate William Lai, which opinion polls show ahead by a comfortable margin, have repeatedly clashed with Beijing which paints them as secessionists.

Before he announced his bid to run on Monday, Gou earlier this year sought the candidacy for the opposition KMT, which advocates for friendlier relations with Beijing. He lost to New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih and in a Facebook (NASDAQ:META) post at the time said he would support Hou.

The KMT has not disguised its anger at Gou's entry into the race for president, seeing his move as opening the way to a victory for