Gou exit from Taiwan presidential race brings relief to opposition KMT

However, President Tsai still has upper-hand ahead of January election

Foxconn founder Terry Gou gestures during a press conference at the company's headquarters in Taipei earlier this year. © AP

LAULY LI and CHENG TING-FANG, Nikkei staff writers

September 17, 2019 13:58 JST

TAIPEI -- The helter-skelter run up to Taiwan's presidential election took another dramatic twist late on Monday when Foxconn founder Terry Gou unexpectedly dropped his bid for office.

Gou's bombshell is a relief for the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) as analysts saw the tech billionaire taking votes from its candidate, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu. Even so, the China-friendly party still faces an uphill battle to beat from incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen in the January election.