Guo Taiming is a legend in the business world on Taiwan Island. He founded Hon Hai Group from scratch, and has been in the business world for decades. At the same time, he is also an important role in the island's political arena. He participated in the internal primary election of the KMT in 2019 and wants to represent the KMT to challenge Tsai Ing-wen in 2020. Although he lost to Han Guoyu in the end, his political energy was still feared by Tsai Ing-wen and others, who besieged him and the Hon Hai Group many times. In 2021, when Taiwan Island is seriously short of vaccines, Guo Taiming managed to obtain a large number of vaccines. It is really astonishing that the DPP asked him to sign a pledge of "not running for the leader of the Taiwan region in 2024" before allowing vaccines to enter Taiwan. Although Guo Taiming has already stepped down as the chairman of the Hon Hai Group, the DPP still wants to make things difficult for the Hon Hai Group and does not allow them to cooperate with the mainland in terms of technology. What is the specific situation, let me tell you slowly.
Guo Taiming
Guo Taiming's Struggle History
Guo Taiming was born in 1950 in Banqiao Town, Taipei County (now Banqiao District, New Taipei City), and his ancestral home is Jincheng, Shanxi. His father, Guo Lingrui, was born in 1922. When he was 16 years old, the Anti-Japanese War broke out in full swing. Guo Lingrui joined the army of Yan Xishan to fight against the Japanese. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War , Guo Lingrui entered the police school for further studies, and later became a policeman in the Qingdao Police Station, and married Chu Yongzhen , whose ancestral home was Yantai, Shandong. In 1948, Guo Lingrui took his whole family and fled to Taiwan Island following Chiang Kai-shek's defeated generals. At that time, millions of people from mainland China flooded into Taiwan. Many people were new to Taiwan and lived in poverty. Although Guo Lingrui has a job under the Kuomintang, the whole family is still displaced and has no fixed place to live. Guo Lingrui successively worked in the Keelung Port Police Station and the Banqiao Police Station in Taipei County. His wife Chu Yongzhen and his family live in the Cihui Palace in Banqiao County, which is a temple dedicated to Mazu . Guo Taiming and his younger siblings were born in the Cihui Palace, so Guo Taiming respects Mazu very much, and worships Mazu every year.
Cihui Palace
When Guo Taiming was nine years old, his father was transferred to the Taipei County Yonghe Police Station (now located in Yonghe District, New Taipei City), and the whole family left the Cihui Palace and moved into the police dormitory. In 1966, Guo Taiming was admitted to the newly established "China Maritime Academy" (now renamed Taipei University of Marine Science and Technology). In order to earn tuition fees, Guo Taiming began to work part-time in pharmaceutical factories and rubber factories. Therefore, Guo Taiming also met Lin Shuru who was an intern at Sanzhong New York Pharmaceutical Factory. In 1974, the two tied the knot. At that time, Taiwan's economy was developing rapidly, and the society was showing a prosperous scene. There are also a large number of mutual aid associations among the people, which can provide a certain amount of financial support. Guo Taiming’s mother, Chu Yongzhen, received NT$200,000 through the Mutual Aid Association, and gave it to Guo Taiming, who was only 24 years old at the time, and asked him to use half of it for marriage and half for investment in starting a business. Terry Gou founded the Hon Hai Plastic Factory in partnership with his friends, and then restructured the factory into "Hon Hai Industry" with the support of his father-in-law, opening up the first commercial territory of the Hon Hai Empire.
Terry Gou's mother Chu Yongzhen
In the 1970s, Hon Hai mainly produced knobs for black and white TVs and , and then turned to the processing and production of electronic products. During Jiang Jingguo’s administration period, he began to vigorously promote the development of the semiconductor high-tech industry, and reused Sun Yunying, Li Guoding, and others. Taiwan's technology industry has ushered in an unprecedented spring. It is with the strong support of the Taiwan authorities that the technology industry led by TSMC is booming. And Hon Hai also caught up with the trend of history and began to produce electronic products such as personal computer connectors. In 1985, Guo Taiming went to the United States to set up a branch and successfully obtained orders from the United States. As the business grew, the territory of the Hon Hai Empire became wider and wider, extending to all parts of the world. Hon HaiThe group also surpassed TSMC with a turnover of NT$174.8 billion in 2001, becoming the largest private enterprise on the island. Taiwan's political arena was also evolving during this period, and the degree of connection between business and politics was also deepening. Guo Taiming, who has dominated the business world for many years, began to plan to open up a second battlefield, preparing to enter Taiwan's political arena.
Hon Hai Group is thriving
Guo Taiming’s political road
Guo Taiming joined the Kuomintang as early as 1970, when he was still on the university campus. In 2000, Lee Teng-hui secretly supported Chen Shui-bian to come to power, destroying the ruling foundation of the Kuomintang. At that time, the Kuomintang was furious and wanted to clean up the remnants of Lee Teng-hui and the undercover agents of the DPP. So they began to re-register members internally, and only after re-registration and confirmation can they be recognized by the Kuomintang. At that time, Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party had come to power, and the future of the Kuomintang was uncertain. Therefore, many people chose to keep a distance from the Kuomintang and did not re-register for confirmation. Guo Taiming is also one of them, and has since officially lost contact with the Kuomintang. However, Guo Taiming did not completely stay away from the political arena, but chose to stand on the sidelines. Like many entrepreneurs on the island, he will provide political donations to political groups during the election process. On various occasions, Guo Taiming also showed himself as a supporter of the Kuomintang. He once praised Ma Ying-jeou as a "skilled and experienced helmsman".
Taiming Gou and Ma Ying-jeou (middle)
In 2016, the Kuomintang was chased and intercepted by Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party. A large amount of property was confiscated, buildings were sealed off, and accounts were frozen. Hong Xiuzhu, then chairman of the Kuomintang, can be said to be in a state of desperation. He couldn't even pay the salaries of the staff in the Kuomintang. He could only ask the bank to sell his house to pay wages. Guo Taiming then provided the Kuomintang with an interest-free loan of 45 million yuan in the name of his mother Chu Yongzhen, so that the Kuomintang temporarily passed its urgent need. At that time, some media on the island pointed out that Guo Taiming might follow the example of the United States Trump and directly participate in the 2020 Taiwan leader election as a businessman. However, Guo Taiming denied it through media interviews in 2018. However, the political arena is always changing rapidly. As Han Kuo-yu, a non-mainstream politician in the Kuomintang, became a political star on the island, the elites in the Kuomintang were looking for a strong candidate to block Han Kuo-yu's career path, so they chose Guo Taiming. On April 17, 2019, Wu Dunyi, then chairman of the Kuomintang, sent a certificate of thanks to Guo Taiming, thanking him for his generosity when the Kuomintang was in financial constraints. At the same time, Wu Dunyi also ended Guo Taiming's "disconnected state" and invited him back to the Kuomintang with a high profile. Taiming Gou also announced that he will participate in the primary election within the Kuomintang to compete for the qualifications for the leadership of Taiwan in 2020. Guo Taiming can be said to have a well-thought-out plan back then, and he thought he had the chance to win. On the one hand, is because Han Guoyu has just been elected as the mayor of Kaohsiung , and has not announced that he will participate in the general election. On the other hand, he has huge network resources and economic advantages, which are unparalleled. However, Han Guoyu was willing to risk the disapproval of the world and announced his candidacy for the leader of the Taiwan region just half a year after he was elected mayor of Kaohsiung. Guo Taiming and Han Guoyu, the friends who used to be able to sit down and eat together, are drifting away. Fans of Han Guoyu began to attack Guo Taiming crazily. Among them, there must be DPP undercover cyber soldiers in the ranks of Han Guoyu fans who are deliberately stirring up trouble.
Han Guoyu and Guo Taiming used to be friends
Guo Taiming is the undisputed overlord within the Hon Hai Group, how could he endure such insults. As a result, fans from both sides began to attack each other, and the entire Kuomintang camp collapsed immediately. The outside world also called this dispute "grassroots fighting against the powerful", and the result was that both sides suffered. Although Han Guoyu won the primary election, the power of the business, intellectual, and financial circles represented by Guo Taiming left Han Guoyu, and even voted for Tsai Ing-wen in the 2020 general election. This also resulted in Tsai Ing-wen being elected with a super high number of votes of 8.17 million, while South Korea Yu was able to steal a lot of money, and even the mayor of Kaohsiung was dismissed by the public. From the current perspective, perhaps Guo Taiming was allowed to represent the Kuomintang at that time, and Han Guoyu assisted by the side, and it was not impossible to defeat Tsai Ing-wen. Because after Tsai Ing-wen is re-elected in 2020, one of the political figures she fears the most is Guo Taiming of the Hon Hai Group.
Tsai Ing-wen
Guo Taiming was in a bad mood after losing to Han Guoyu in the primary election. On September 12, 2019, 31 KMT leaders published an open letter in the newspaper, calling on Guo Taiming to cooperate with Han Guoyu. As a result, Guo Taiming directly returned the Kuomintang's party certificate to , which meant a clean break with the Kuomintang. After that, Guo Taiming approached Ke Wenzhe , Wang Jinping , James Soong, and even Zhao Shaokang. He hopes to use the strength of these people to regain a place in the political arena, and even independently run for the leadership of Taiwan in 2020. But these efforts all came to naught in the end. It can only be said that the political arena is far more complicated than the business world. The right time, place and people are indispensable. Politicians have their own ghosts. Guo Taiming is a capital tycoon who is good at wrestling in the business world, but not good at fighting in the political arena. Heroes are useless. In 2019, Guo Taiming also stepped down as chairman of Hon Hai Group and officially retired to the second line. But Tsai Ing-wen is still very vigilant about Guo Taiming, always guarding against his return to the political arena.
Ke Wenzhe, Guo Taiming, Wang Jinping
At the end of May 2021, there will be a major outbreak in Taiwan, but there are not enough vaccines on the island of Taiwan. Because of Tsai Ing-wen's "anti-China protection Taiwan" strategy, the health department on the island of Taiwan has repeatedly rejected the mainland's goodwill and support. Guo Taiming purchased 10 million doses of Shanghai Fosun BNT vaccine from the mainland through Hon Hai and donated them to the Taiwan authorities for use. At the end of June, Guo Taiming also asked Tsai Ing-wen specifically for this matter. However, the Taiwan authorities let Guo Taiming sign a letter of commitment not to run for the leadership of the Taiwan region in 2024, which is really jaw-dropping. The DPP authorities are worried that Guo Taiming will use this incident to gain the support and favor of the people in Taiwan, and thus have a political aura to help him make a comeback in the political arena. Therefore, they tried every means to make things difficult for Terry Gou and the Hon Hai Group, and they did not care about the common people at all. Even for such a meritorious thing as donating vaccines, the DPP has to be picky in every possible way, putting self-interest first in everything, and there is really no bottom line at all.
Guo Taiming's family
Recently, Hon Hai Group announced that it will invest in the mainland. As a result, the Taiwan authorities attacked the Hon Hai Group on the grounds that they had not declared in advance. Taiwan's competent authority claims that it can impose a fine of more than 50,000 yuan and less than NT$25 million. The Mainland Affairs Council on the island of Taiwan also bluntly stated that this move is for "to prevent the outflow of Taiwan's high-tech industrial technology, and to prevent mainland companies from acquiring key technologies in Taiwan through the acquisition of factories in mainland China." In fact, the reason why the DPP is so difficult Hon Hai Group, on the one hand, is to make Hon Hai Group more obedient after Guo Taiming retired, and to wash away the blue camp color of Gou Taiming's era. On the other hand, it is to beat Guo Taiming himself, so as to create a chilling effect and keep him away from the political arena completely. At the same time, the upcoming elections on Taiwan Island can also be regarded as a hint and threat in disguise to make the Hon Hai Group provide political donations to the Democratic Progressive Party.
Terry Gou is in the United States
Terry Gou is an authentic businessman who actually knows nothing about politics. Whether he runs large-scale factories on both sides of the strait to squeeze labor, or actively cooperates with the United States in the high-tech industry, these are all considerations based entirely on commercial interests. In the political field, it is necessary to have an overall view, to know the advances and retreats, and to understand the gains and losses. He is highly similar to Zhao Shaokang in terms of cross-strait relations, adhering to the signboard of "one China, all representations" and hoping to be able to handle things with ease between the two sides of the strait. They are willing to develop economic and trade exchanges with the mainland and benefit from it, but they are extremely hostile to the mainland system. Guo Taiming even claimed that Zhao Shaokang was his political mentor, and once hoped that Zhao Shaokang would come out and manage the election for him. Guo Taiming has the arrogance of a leader. If he runs in 2020, he is very likely to be on equal terms with Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party, and even stand out and win the top spot. is a politician who considers capital gains and losses in everything, and will definitely not help the improvement of cross-strait issues.
Zhao Shaokang
Both Guo Taiming and Zhao Shaokang are vested interests in the island’s political arena. They don’t want to see the DPP take away their power, but they are also unwilling to meet the mainland. Many senior intellectuals who support the Kuomintang and Taiwanese business elites oppose the DPP's arbitrariness, but they also have doubts and negative attitudes towards the mainland's political system. Their eyes can only focus on the gains and losses of Taiwan Island, the success or failure of victory and defeat, but they ignore the integrity and cohesion of the Chinese nation. Only when the two sides of the strait are truly integrated, can Taiwan's technology industry have a strong backing to compete with the Americans, instead of just succumbing to the US's despotic power and allowing it to get whatever it wants. Only when the five-star red flag is flying over Taiwan, can the island of Taiwan get rid of the control of the United States and truly usher in a new life.
