TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Independent presidential hopeful Terry Gou is on a signature drive to gather the required support he needs to formalize his candidacy, and has offered to donate NT$100 million (over US$3.1 million) to charity if one million people pledge their support.

“With more than 300,000 signatures already, we hereby announce the formal establishment of the ‘Daddy Gou Hope Fund',” the Foxconn founder's team wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday (Oct. 8). For every 100,000 signatures received an additional NT$10 million will be donated to the fund, up to NT$100 million, the post read.

By late Saturday night Gou’s team had already released a statement denying accusations of vote buying and bribery, per Newtalk. The donations are not targeted at any specific signatories so there will be no legal issues, the statement said.

The justice ministry did comment on the legality of the fund. It said the judgement of individual cases will be left up to the relevant authorities.

Gou's team said the fund's investments include social welfare, medical care, diplomacy and national affairs projects, among others

Gou’s campaign office said that they surpassed the required number of signatures to formally register a presidential candidacy on Friday. After the announcement a spokesperson said the signature drive will continue to gather "as many signatures as they can."

Terry Gou places a hat on a carboard cutout of himself on Saturday. (CNA photo)