Caught between China and US, Foxconn tycoon mulls bid to lead Taiwan

And Terry Gou’s Foxconn – the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer – now finds itself in a very difficult position amid escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing. Adding intrigue is that Gou seems set to run for the country’s presidency in 2020.
Just take a look at its business portfolio and you’ll see why it would be hard for Foxconn chairman Gou to remain neutral but also to decide which side he should lean towards.
Foxconn runs enormous manufacturing operations in China, employing hundreds of thousands of workers there. Its biggest client is Apple, which is under pressure from President Donald Trump to move the manufacturing of its devices, including the iPhone, to the United States from China. That move would please Trump but anger Beijing; keeping the manufacturing base in China would appease Beijing but irk the US president.
In theory, it should be a business decision based on cost and the supply chain, but in the case of Foxconn, it could well be more of a political decision.
As a no-nonsense businessman, Gou has seldom shied away from voicing support for specific candidates in Taiwan’s elections – but he has always played it safe, never backing anyone who might displease China. As a result he stood to lose little, whatever the outcome.
But there seems no way that Gou or Foxconn can play it safe amid the rising tensions between China and the US.
China has reportedly already raised concern about the possibility of Foxconn pulling out its investment. But Gou has reportedly met with high-level Beijing officials and assured them that Foxconn would not make a decision on setting up a US production base until a clearer picture of trade policy emerged from Washington.
But that is not a promise that Foxconn will not expand its manufacturing operations to the United States.
In fact, it seems Foxconn has already made specific plans about investing in the US, reportedly telling Trump it would create new jobs in the United States as part of a joint investment with Japan’s SoftBank Group.
It remains to be seen what decision Gou will make, but it seems the dilemma Foxconn faces may be further complicated by its chairman’s aspirations to run for Taiwan’s presidency.
As someone whose priority has always been business, Gou has never been directly involved in politics. But this seems to be changing.
Gou has declined to dismiss growing speculation about his presidential ambitions. Such silence is very conspicuous for a man usually quick to deny any rumours that put his business or personal interests on the line.
Gou is probably using the speculation to test the waters. And so far,  political heavyweights and commentators have voiced their backing for his presidential bid. Trump’s victory may have initially come as encouragement for Gou as a political outsider, but it has actually dented Gou’s hope of running on a China-friendly platform.
Had Trump not sought the White House, a Beijing-friendly President Gou would be able to improve cross-strait relations and protect Foxconn’s business interests in China. But the next Taiwan president now seems more likely to continue to be caught in the tensions between the United States and China. How would Gou, if he became president, maintain a friendly relationship with both China and the United States in order to protect Taiwan’s interests in general and his company’s in particular?
Gou must be assessing all the possibilities, risks and consequences. But before he makes up his mind on a presidential bid, he first has to decide how Foxconn can manoeuvre through the US-China conflicts without enraging either side.
We’ll see if Gou has the political wisdom to do it. This might as well be the first test for Gou on his road to the 
presidency.