Banyan Cross-strait love and hate

摘要

IF RICH BUSINESSMEN bring both strengths and liabilities to politics, then Terry Gou brings them in spades. He is Taiwan's richest man, with an estimated fortune of $7bn, so he should have no trouble funding the campaign for president he announced last week. What is more, few people in the world could claim to have created more jobs: starting with a tiny loan from his mother, he built the biggest contract-manufacturing company in the electronics business, Foxconn, which makes iPhones for Apple, among other things. It employs close to rm people. Given voters' frustration at the wan performance of the economy under the incumbent, Tsai Ing-wen, it is easy to see how Mr Gou might sell himself as the answer to their prayers.