Foxconn's Gou Runs for Taiwan President, Citing Message from Sea Goddess

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-17/foxconn-s-gou-says-sea-goddess-backs-his-run-for-taiwan-leader

by pseudolus • 7 years ago

92 65 7 years ago

This is part of China's multi-pronged strategy for taking over Taiwan.

One prong is coopting Taiwanese elites, in parts by allowing them to become very wealthy through China, but only if working in the background for unification. There is no way Foxconn would have been allowed to operate large factories in China, if its founder and chairman (Terry Gou) was pro independence.

est31• 7 years ago

coopting Taiwanese elites

This is empire building 101. Romans offered barbarian leaders a luxurious lifestyle with floor heating and access to a wide variety of regional specialties from around the empire in exchange for loyalty to the city. Quite many took that offer, those who didn't were convinced with help of the military.

linuxftw• 7 years ago

The US recently did something similar with Ukraine.

runn1ng• 7 years ago

Well, he is campaigning on KMT ticket. KMT is pro-unification.

(Funny considering KMT history, but that's how things played out.)

dis-sys• 7 years ago

KMT is pro-unification.

No, KMT is not pro-unification. When KMT's ex-chairman Hung Hsiu-chu openly supported the unification during her presidential campaign in 2015, 91% of KMT delegates at the party congress voted for replacing her as the KMT presidential candidate.

KMT's plan is always to keep the status quo and use "unification" as a bargaining chip to get more $ from the CCP.

NotPaidToPost• 7 years ago

Of course the KMT is "pro-unification".

That's a historical constant, nothing funny about it.

I remember Ma Yingjiu (the previous KMT ROC President) asked about 'independence' in 2011. He replied that the Republic of China had been independent since it was founded in 1911. Very good reply that summarises the situation to those who do not know Chinese history.

showjackyang7• 7 years ago

Well... IMO "unification" is the wrong term, "invasion" is what China is actually doing.

bitxbitxbitcoin• 7 years ago

This is brilliantly targeted then since the Chinese officially abandoned Mazu during the Cultural Revolution. Not that Guo could run for China President, anyways.

prittgluestick• 7 years ago

It is depressing to me to think how much of the billions that went to Foxconn, as subsidies for an ongoingly-debated screen plant in Wisconsin, ultimately was a source of personal funding for this person's political campaign.

quotz• 7 years ago

Very true...

mrybczyn• 7 years ago

More of those billions came from Apple... Vote with your wallet, buy HTC instead.

bilbo0s• 7 years ago

Wow.

I could have lived the rest of my life in blissful ignorance of that possibility. Just gets my blood back up over how much Walker and his cronies let those guys fleece us for.

Our fault.

We didn't have to elect the guy.

Still... it stings.

npongratz• 7 years ago

Our fault.
We didn't have to elect the guy.

Nope, nope, nope... politicians do not get to pass off responsibility for their actions simply because a plurality of denizens in a geographic area voted them into office.

duxup• 7 years ago

Well it was a screen plant.

Then going to be a weird amalgam of R&D / engineering offices spread out across Wisconsin for no reason.

And now ... back to some sort of manufacturing like ... thing ... maybe.

kweinber• 7 years ago

Is it just me or are others deeply disturbed by his correspondence with imaginary sea monsters? I am perplexed by the political appeal of claiming affiliation with imaginary power-symbols like this.... but it seems to appeal to voters nearly everywhere even in this day and age.

SketchySeaBeast5• 7 years ago

It's horrifying. I have no idea why association with any sort of sea beast would give you additional credit.

baybal22• 7 years ago

I have no idea, but Acer sells notebooks blessed in the name of sea goddess, so Mr. Gou is not alone there

tpurves• 7 years ago

Is one imaginary god any worse than another? doesn’t sound much different than what you get from politicians in places like America.

krapp• 7 years ago

Is one imaginary god any worse than another?

Arguably, possibly, yes?

Once you get past the fictional nature of the deities themselves, what you're left with is the cult, the physical and financial network of the religion and its dogma. Those can be inconsequential in the greater political and cultural narrative, or a powerful force to shape politics and culture to its own ends.

tyingq• 7 years ago

I'm now completely desensitized to potential or current heads of state saying outlandish things.

I had hung on to the notion that there should be some restraint and decorum associated with it for quite a while. That ship, though, has sailed.

_underfl0w_5• 7 years ago

Must've been carried away by this sea monster...

clojurestan• 7 years ago

Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony!

SketchySeaBeast5• 7 years ago

You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!

JTbane• 7 years ago

No different than someone saying "God helped me make this accomplishment" or something like that.

AFascistWorld• 7 years ago

When you are so entrenched in China and so beholden to the party, that even the mere idea of decamping is dangerous to entertain, how good can he dance with shackles on?

return0• 7 years ago

citing implies there is some kind of written documented evidence for it.

chronolitus• 7 years ago

your comment implies there isn't.

moate• 7 years ago

Are you trying to claim the Gou has a written message from the sea goddess in question?

_verandaguy• 7 years ago

Listen --

Strange women, lying in ponds, distributing presidential candidacy advice is no basis for a system of government.

On a more serious note, can any readers from ROC or anyone who's more in touch with the situation there give an insight into whether he stands a chance given (a) the sea goddess angle, and (b) the apparently PRC-friendly platform?

EastToWest4• 7 years ago

I have been following Taiwan politics on and off for the past three months since Han Kuo-yu came into power.

My observation:

1. Mazu is big in Taiwan.

2. DPP didn't have any political achievement in the past three years.

3. Taiwan has been stagnated for the past two decades due to ideology politics.

So yes Guo stands a (big?) chance.

Diederich• 7 years ago

1. Mazu is big in Taiwan.

In your opinion, how much of an advantage is gained from the announcement being clearly aligned with Mazu? Thanks.

showjackyang7• 7 years ago

being a Taiwanese, I feel (2) and (3) are actually the perception people have from exposure to China-originated fake news that intents to obscure current Taiwanese government's efforts.

No doubt about (1)

mshockwave2• 7 years ago

Please don't come up with such assertions, even Taiwanese don't know the exact answers for your statements mentioned above. Especially (2), it's like saying either parties in U.S. didn't do anything, which will raise a HUGE debate here on HN

showjackyang7• 7 years ago

As Taiwanese, from what I observed, given the level of populism that's going on in the country, the chance of him being elected next year is highly probable. This is a very very very serious threat to Taiwan's effort to counter China's invasive actions.

Also even though Mazu is super big in Taiwan, Taiwanese are generally seeing this only as a political declaration. (Religion in Taiwan is more of a spiritual guidance than an actual superior being that dictates people lives.)

jonathankoren2• 7 years ago

Curious why the populists are siding with the pro-Beijing crowd. It’s not like the PRC is very populist friendly.

barkingcat• 7 years ago

When translated into English the sea goddess thing can be really weird, but Ma Zhu is not really a sea goddess. She's more like a folk symbol combined with a patron/saint of the sea and a semi-lifestyle religion. With Taiwan being an island, the patron saint of the sea is an immensely important part of the culture.

She is widely known and revered in all of Taiwan. When you go to a Taiwanese family and say "Mazhu bao yo" (Mazu bless you) - it's generally well received even if the people don't believe in Taoism or natural / personified deities.

The idea that Gou says "Mazu wanted me to do it" is more like saying to a Catholic that Mother Teresa inspired you to visit India and start a non-profit agency to help the people there.

Hopefully the analogy holds for people who are not familiar with the culture there.

hkmurakami• 7 years ago

Was just talking with a friend about this -- we agreed that if this were an American businessman getting the blessing and will of the Christian God from a priest or a bishop, we probably wouldn't think too much of it.

ilamont• 7 years ago

As he's a "mainlander" (外省人, i.e. at least one parent came over with Chiang Kai-shek following the 1949 loss to the Chinese Communist Party in the Chinese Civil War）the Mazu reference seems to be something meant to appeal to Taiwanese (本省人) voters, kind of like a presidential candidate in the U.S. claiming strong local ties when traveling to different regions where that plays well. Yes, he's religious, and he speaks Taiwanese, but I wouldn't assume a huge number of Taiwanese people will back him for those reasons alone.

If Gou has real support from the KMT -- no easy thing, considering he hasn't been heavily active in local politics AFAIK -- he might get some wind in his sails, particularly if he sticks with the practical themes relating to cross-strait trade and economic growth. He understands that very, very well.

If he doesn't have the right political network in place, though, he's going to piss off a lot of KMT people and likely to relegated to the margins -- or siphon off a lot of blue supporters for an indie run, which will lead to the same type of situation the U.S. Republican party had back in the 90s with Ross Perot.

wtdata• 7 years ago

Well, we did have a fair number of leaders in the West claiming they went for office due to divine inspiration (i.e. George W. Bush), so, it's weird yes, but just as weird as invoking some monotheistic God.

kibwen2• 7 years ago

It would be weird only if they actually believed it, rather than simply saying such things to pander to their base, as Bush and this guy have done.

SketchySeaBeast5• 7 years ago

Doesn't that seem a little like you're imposing your own belief system onto them? I get it, this guy doesn't seem particularly Christian, but Bush seems like he could have very well been a fervent believer.

nnq2• 7 years ago

...the Overton window is sliding to a place where we'll soon see the POTUS tweet about his dreams of Cthulhu and it will not even seem weird anymore :P

kibwen2• 7 years ago

While such dreams would explain a lot about this presidency, I think you underestimate the velocity with which the Overton Window has already gleefully escaped the Earth's atmosphere. Remember the flying water tankers tweet from two days ago? Nobody else does either.

nnq2• 7 years ago

That was funny :) If I were American it would have been less funny though.

There was another more famous leader that thought of himself as talented at multiple things: like painting... and architecture/construction. And, in a quirk of fate, being bad at the latter actually saved his life once (unfortunately).

(...and yeah, I just fulfilled Godwin's law.)

InitialLastName• 7 years ago

American politicians can't get elected without citing arbitrary deities in their speeches either.

_underfl0w_5• 7 years ago

Unfortunately I don't see this cult of ignorance dissolving within our lifetimes. Seemingly no amount of factual data can counter human "feelings". Until then, politics will continue trying to convert the thoughtless masses into votes.

SketchySeaBeast5• 7 years ago

He'd have my vote if he could pull off "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" in a debate.

mshockwave2• 7 years ago

FYI for those who didn't familiar with Taiwan culture: Saying that you're going to do something because some god/goddess tells you to do so in your dream is a pretty common excuse in ancient Taiwan. So it makes sense as elder population is probably Gou's target audience.

But of course, it looks F* *KING RIDICULOUS to younger generations.

JudasGoat• 7 years ago

Is this part of the "Made in China 2025" initiative?

Foxconn's Gou Runs for Taiwan President, Citing Message from Sea Goddess

Related Stories