Taiwan is gearing up for one of its most unpredictable election races after Terry Gou, the country’s richest man and chairman of Apple supplier Foxconn, launched a presidential bid.
Mr Gou, 68, said he would join the primaries for the Kuomintang (KMT), the main opposition party. The KMT takes a softer stance on China than the ruling Democratic Progressive party of incumbent president Tsai Ing-wen.
The push into politics by a man whose business is inextricably linked to China is raising stark questions as to how he would face his country’s giant neighbour, which claims Taiwan as its territory and threatens annexation if Taipei insists on keeping its de facto independence.