"China: Interfering in Taiwan Presidential Election?"... Foxconn Surprise Investigation

Guo Timing Hints at Independent Candidacy
Purpose to Prevent Minjindang's Return to Power
Also Cites Impact on Apple and Taiwan's Economy

The Chinese government has launched an investigation into tax and land use concerning the mainland China companies and facilities of Foxconn, Taiwan's largest partner of Apple. Some analysts suggest that this move is a blatant indication of China's intention to interfere in the upcoming Taiwanese presidential election scheduled for January next year.

Guo Taiming Foxconn Founder
Photo by Yonhap News

On the 23rd, local Taiwanese media such as Liberty Times highlighted that Foxconn, a company founded by Guo Taiming, who declared his independent candidacy for the presidential election, has been targeted for investigation. Foxconn is Apple's largest partner in the United States, producing 80% of Apple iPhones solely at its factories in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.

In political circles, it is believed that China has targeted Guo Taiming, the founder, to prevent the re-election of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in this election. If Guo Taiming officially enters the presidential race, the election dynamics in Taiwan are likely to shift in favor of the ruling DPP. Before his announcement, the presidential election was a three-way contest among Lai Ching-te of the DPP, Hou Yu-ih of the Kuomintang (KMT), the main opposition party, and Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), the second opposition party. However, Guo Taiming's declaration to run as an independent candidate has inevitably caused a split in the opposition vote. Guo Taiming will officially qualify as an independent candidate if he collects 290,000 signatures, representing 1.5% of the electorate, by early next month.

For China, there is a strong incentive to prevent the DPP, which has an anti-China stance, from regaining power. China hopes for the election of the pro-China KMT candidate Hou Yu-ih. Considering that Guo Taiming consistently polls around 10%, his withdrawal would relatively benefit the other opposition candidates.

Furthermore, there is speculation that Foxconn was chosen as the investigation target to inflict significant damage on Taiwan's economy. Given that Chinese authorities are fully supporting the 5G company Huawei, a surprise investigation into Foxconn would deal a major blow not only to Taiwan's economy but also to Apple's competitive position.

Regarding the investigation, DPP candidate Lai Ching-te criticized China's probe into Foxconn during a campaign rally the previous day, stating that Taiwanese companies should not be forced to take China's side. The pro-China candidates Hou Yu-ih and Guo Taiming refrained from commenting.

Following the news of the surprise investigation by Chinese authorities, Foxconn's stock price on the Taiwan Stock Exchange fell more than 2% compared to the previous closing price of 103.50 TWD. As of 1:01 PM, Foxconn's stock was trading at 100.50 TWD, down 2.9% from the previous close.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.