Taiwan election: Netflix actress chosen as Terry Gou’s running mate by Foxconn founder

Terry Gou, the founder of Foxconn, has picked Tammy Lai, an actress, to be his partner in the presidential election in Taiwan.

Many people were surprised by today’s announcement because Ms. Lai doesn’t have any experience in politics.

Mr Gou is running as a candidate by himself after not being chosen by the main opposing party, Kuomintang.

Taiwan has been a country that is governed by the people since 1996. China is very important in this situation because it says the island belongs to them and they might use force to bring it under their control.

Mr Gou, who supports China, is not doing as well as William Lai, Ko Wen-je, and Hou Yu-ih in various surveys.

Ms Lai, who is 60 years old, has been working in the entertainment industry for many years. She acted as a presidential candidate, a character that seemed to be based on President Tsai Ing-wen, on the show Wave Makers on Netflix. Earlier this year, the series led to the emergence of a Me too movement in Taiwan.

However, according to a local magazine called Business Today, he had already left the island before she was born.

Mr Gou has been trying to convince voters by talking about his achievements in business and his past work with China. He founded Foxconn in 1974 and now it is a major supplier for Apple.

Ms Lai said she had an open mind. After spending some time with Mr. Gou, I have realized that I can work well with him because he is very fascinating.
People are wondering about Ms. Lai’s nationality because laws in Taiwan say that people who want to be president can only have one nationality. A spokesperson said that Ms. Lai will respond to the question on her own later.

Dennis Weng, a professor at Sam Houston State University in the US, said it was a smart decision for Mr Gou. However, it may not have a big impact on the outcome of the January election in the end.

Tammy Lai did really well in Wave Makers, and lots of young people were in the audience. “He said that young people don’t like Terry Gou,” he told the BBC in Chinese.