Gou makes waves with choice of running mate

Terry Gou, the founder of major Apple supplier Foxconn, said yesterday his running mate in Taiwan's presidential election next year would be Tammy Lai, an actress who starred as a presidential candidate who wins in Netflix's Wave Makers.

After months of speculation, the billionaire announced his run as an independent candidate last month, though he has continued to run at the bottom of most opinion polls and well behind the favorite, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's William Lai, currently the vice president.

Gou introduced the veteran actress, author and singer Lai as his running mate, whose Wave Makers - about members of an election campaign team, including a supportive manager who convinces a young staffer who was groped that the issue is too important to be swept under the rug - kicked off a renewed #MeToo movement in Taiwan.

"I'm quite open-minded. I told myself that last year I would set no ceiling for myself, and I didn't expect I'd actually be raised up this far," Lai said.

"After meeting Gou two or three times, I was very sure he's someone I could cooperate with as he's fascinating," she added. "I told him, 'We're going to have fun.'"

Gou must gather close to 300,000 voter signatures by November 2 to qualify as an independent candidate, and needed to decide his running mate before he could collect signatures.