Terry Gou resigns from board of Foxconn

BEIJING

Aspiring Taiwanese independent presidential candidate Terry Gou has resigned from the board of Foxconn, the Apple supplier he founded nearly a half-century ago.

The company issued a news release late on Sept. 2 saying Gou had resigned for personal reasons.

It wasn't clear what, if any, immediate effect Gou's decision would have on the operations of Foxconn, ranked 20th in the 2023 Fortune Global 500 and considered one of the world’s largest technology companies.

It is headquartered in Taiwan, but does the vast majority of its manufacturing in China, where it employs hundreds of thousands making iPhones in vast factory-dormitory complexes that have sometimes seen frictions between workers and management over employment conditions.

Guo announced Aug. 28 he would run as an independent candidate in Taiwan’s presidential election.

At a news conference, Gou criticized the governing Democratic Progressive Party, saying its policies have “brought Taiwan into the risk of war” with China, which claims the self-ruled island democracy as part of its territory.

“I will definitely not allow Taiwan to become the next Ukraine,” he added. Gou is most closely aligned with the opposition China-friendly Nationalist Party, or KMT.

Gou lost in the Nationalist primary in 2019 and tried again this year, but the party selected New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih as its candidate. Gou had pledged to support Hou, and his announcement was seen as a betrayal by the party leadership.

However, Gou's is considered a long-shot candidacy, with independents lacking the local political networks intrinsic to Taiwanese politics and most citizens wary of closer ties with China.