TAICHUNG (Taiwan News) — Foxconn founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) has been making a number of public appearances after losing the Kuomintang's (KMT) presidential nomination.

Gou wants to stay relevant in the presidential race but his motives and goals are unclear. In theory, Gou should be actively backing the official KMT candidate, New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜).

After all, he said he would both before he lost the nomination, and on Facebook in the immediate aftermath of the loss. However, after a brief trip to Japan, he started having “secret” meetings with some of his key supporters and has continued to do so.

Though a promised revolt from within the party if Hou was nominated failed to materialize, considerable support for Gou remains in the party — and considerable grumbling.

Then a widely-watched poll by My-Formosa was released showing Hou’s support in mid-May had dropped nearly 8% since early May to plunge to only 18.3%, putting him in third place for the first time. This put him well behind second-place Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) at 25.9% and Lai Ching-te (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) at 35.8%.

It was a disastrous showing for the KMT, as Hou was only last December polling in first place at 39.9%.

Calls for Hou to be dumped as the candidate from within the KMT had been percolating already, but seeing that Hou’s support had collapsed to less than half of what it was in only five months supercharged those calls. The KMT leadership had to scramble to assure the public it still stood by their man.

Gou goes to Kinmen

As this was unfolding, Ko and Lai set off on long-planned trips to Kinmen to attend a major religious event there. Gou decided to join the event at the last minute and commandeered a private jet to make it happen.

Gou went to Kinmen to attend a religious event with Ko and Lai. He briefly met Lai and gave him his "Kinmen peace declaration." Lai politely accepted it but, no doubt the minute press cameras were no longer on him, dumped it in the trash.

Gou also bumped into Ko twice during the day at the event, though only briefly each time. Gou beamed for the cameras and held Ko’s hand.

Then things got weird. Gou called up Ko and asked to meet him at his guesthouse. Ko agreed and found Gou waiting for him.

Some in Ko’s camp reportedly felt rather taken advantage of by Gou’s move, but Ko himself denied this and noted they have a relationship going way back.

Gou was visibly drunk, which is unsurprising as he had just been hosted by the Kinmen County speaker, who shared Kinmen’s famous Kaoliang with his powerful guest. Gou clutched Ko’s hand and they walked down to the shore to look out over the water towards Xiamen.

Gou was reportedly heard jokingly using a phrase that described his commitment to Ko as only ceasing "if the mountains fall and the oceans dry up," (海誓山盟), an idiom usually used to describe romantic love. “The moon represents my heart,” Gou reportedly quipped, after the pair were photographed sitting together looking out at the night sky.

But members of both camps denied he said any such thing. Gou said he was too drunk to remember anything. People in Ko's camp said he talked about his business in Fujian.

Party unity?

Regardless, Gou's trip set the chattering commentator classes afire with speculation. After all, in 2019 the pair had considered a political partnership. Soon after, Ko set off on a trip to Japan, so the two haven’t had any interactions since.

Meanwhile, the KMT leadership and the Hou camp have been trying to reconcile with Gou and his camp. They haven’t succeeded, and Gou has said nothing publicly since his Facebook post. The best the KMT has managed to accomplish is to arrange some meetings between Gou's supporters and Hou, who presumably could act as intermediaries.

The Kinmen trip was clearly a shot across the bow at the KMT. Reports from people close to him suggest Gou is still upset because he was 99.9% sure the KMT would choose him as their candidate, and he feels wronged by party Chair Eric Chu (朱立倫).

The KMT must be nervous. Party Central and Hou say they are confident that Gou will keep his promise to back the party and Hou. However, Gou has broken promises and lashed back at the KMT before, notably when he lost in the 2019 primary.

His "secret" meetings and messaging via Ko are intended to give him leverage. He wants to keep his supporters on his side and deny the KMT party unity.

Hou is still running third in the latest My-Formosa poll. As long as that is the case, Gou supporters are going to hold out hope and continue to call for Hou to be dumped as the party candidate.

Feel the force

There is no doubt that Gou wants to remain a force in this election. As for why and to what end, there are three possibilities.

The first is that he wants influence and power over the existing candidates and parties. For example, in exchange for adopting some of his political ideas, he will finally relent and back a candidate, and bring his supporters with him.

The second possibility is that by staying relevant he can tack with whatever the circumstances provide him. For example, if Hou slides further in the polls, the KMT may have to consider dumping him, and that leaves Gou as the obvious choice. Other opportunities may also arise, which could see him offered deals, such as being appointed premier.

The third possibility is that he is going to run for president, but is exploring his options on which is the best pathway to take. He could be considering the KMT, the TPP, running as an independent, or even starting his own new party.

We will take a look at Gou's options and strategies in a changing election season at a later date.