Terry Guo’s Entry in the Election Will Help Pull the Campaign Theme Back to the Economy

 Terry Guo’s Entry in the Election Will Help Pull the Campaign Theme Back to the Economy

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

April 18, 2019

 Translation of an Excerpt

Foxconn Chairman Terry Guo has indicated that he would run for president, declaring that he wanted to go through the primary and definitely would not accept a draft. This change has added to a variable to the KMT’s "drafting by opinion polls," a system said to be settled with much difficulty. According to the latest poll, Terry Guo's support rating is only two percentage points behind Han Kuo-yu’s and at par with Ko Wen-je; thus we can see Guo’s strength is not weak. What is important is that, whether or not he wins the nomination through the primary, it will help to pull the theme of the 2020 Presidential campaign back to the economy and people's livelihood, and avoid being shaped into a "duel between reunification and independence" by the DPP.

Rumors about Terry Guo's entry into the race had never been interrupted earlier. At the end of 2016, Trump was elected president of the United States, Terry Guo went to the United States the following year for investment and called on Trump at the White House; many circles had had a series of speculations and discussions about his possible entry into the race. The primary reason is that the taboo for entrepreneurs to be chief of state was removed by Trump. Terry Guo also picked an occasion of an international conference at a seminar on the subject of "Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue" sponsored jointly by the US and Taiwan, to raise a question "whether the crux of Taiwan's economic development is China or the United States," sounding a starting salvo foreshadowing his entry into the presidential race.

After Terry Guo’s possible entry into the race was exposed, some different voices have been reported from entrepreneurial circles; some believe that politics and business management are entirely different arenas, and that Terry Guo’s business governance experience may not necessarily be transposed entirely to the governance of a country. The principle of separation between politics and economics will also elicit discussions. Others are worried that Taiwan’s politics is too perilous and vicious; Terry Guo’s entry into the race could possibly lead to oppression before seeing benefits.  It is hardly possible that Terry Guo has never pondered on these factors; take his query at the "Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue" seminar for instance, it is in fact strategic thinking at a much higher level. The important thing is how to take care of both Taiwan's security and economic development. Does he have a better answer and can he use it to persuade the public? Moreover, Terry Guo’s personality has not gone through political scrutiny and baptism; this has also elicited curiosity from outside circles.

However, viewed from the positive side, Terry Guo's entry into the race will help pull the theme of the presidential campaign from the DPP's "national security card" back to the economy. This point may echo Han Kuo yu's "Taiwan is secure, the people are well-to-do." No matter who emerges winning the KMT’s primary, this can certainly be the foundation for cooperation between the two.

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