Foxconn founder Terry Gou has officially qualified to run as an independent candidate in Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election.

He had collected three times more than the minimum number of petition signatures from Taiwanese to secure his spot, according to Taiwan News on Nov. 14.

Gathered over 900,000 valid signatures from citizens

Gou gathered over 900,000 valid petition signatures according to Taiwan’s election commission.

This was more than three times the minimum legal requirement of almost 300,000 signatures by Nov. 2.

In Taiwan, independent candidates like Gou can be nominated by Taiwanese citizens' petitions, or signatures

For the upcoming 2024 election, he satisfied the minimum number of around 290,000 signatures, which is 1.5 per cent of all eligible voters in the last presidential election in 2020.

Independent candidates are also required to gather these signatures within 45 days of announcing their intention to run for the presidential race.

Chose Netflix actress Tammy Lai as running mate

In response to the official qualification, Gou thanked his backers for their support, and said that he would work to achieve peace across the Taiwan Strait if elected.

Gou selected actress Tammy Lai as his running mate, previously announced on Sep. 14.

She is an actress who starred in high-profile Taiwanese Netflix drama "Wave Makers".

According to Gou's office, Lai holds a master's degree in international relations and a law PhD from China's Jinan University.

She is also a writer and the founder of an organisation called Collaborative Communications Academy, which advocates for "positive communication skills".

Gou, 73, founded Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, better known as Foxconn, in 1974. He stepped down as Foxconn chief in 2019, but remained on the board until Sep. 2.

Gou resigned as Foxconn's board member shortly after announcing his intention on Aug. 28 to enter the presidential race.

He is one of four candidates in the upcoming election, along with Kuomintang's Hou Yu-ih, Democratic Progressive Party's William Lai Ching-te, and Ko Wen-je from Taiwan People's Party.

Presidential candidate registration is expected to open from Nov. 20 to 24. So far, only Gou has picked his running mate.

The election is scheduled to be held on Jan. 13, 2024.

Top image from 郭台銘/Facebook.

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