Foxconn Technology Group founder Terry Gou avoided commenting on China’s probe of the Taiwanese company in his first campaign appearances since mainland authorities announced their investigation.
After disappearing from public life for days, Gou’s reemergence appears to indicate that he’s not caving to pressure from Beijing, which is auditing Foxconn’s taxes and looking into the company’s land use in China.
Gou, who’s running to become Taiwan’s next president, attended an event for supporters on Saturday. He told local reporters that he’s continuing efforts to convince voters to support his candidacy as an independent, though he did not comment on the iPhone assembler’s ongoing trouble in China, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.
At a religious event on Sunday in Taipei, Gou repeated his stance that the Taiwanese people don’t want war with China. But there, too, he didn’t address Foxconn’s China woes.
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Before Saturday, the Taiwanese tycoon did not join any public event for days after China’s state-run Global Times reported last Sunday that Chinese authorities were investigating Foxconn. Chinese officials later confirmed the probe and said it was “normal law enforcement.”
At one point after the Global Times report, Foxconn’s key publicly traded arm Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. and three affiliates lost $9 billion in value. Gou is trailing far behind three other major presidential candidates, according to a survey released by Taiwan’s TVBS Poll Center on Tuesday.
The iPhone billionaire proclaimed in August that the Chinese Communist Party wouldn’t dare touch Foxconn. He said the tech company has too many foreign investors and global customers, including Apple and Tesla.
In campaign speeches, Gou has argued that he can improve fractious relations between Taipei and Beijing.
However, China consistently claims Taiwan as part of its territory and hasn’t ruled out using force to take over the island of 23 million. Foxconn’s extensive operations in China have raised concerns that Beijing could pressure Gou through his businesses.
--With assistance from Shirley Zhao.
