Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

China’s counter-espionage Law amended on Saturday last week and Foreign Investment Law enacted on Jan. 1 last year were designed to work together.

Article 4, Paragraph 3 of the Counter-Espionage Law gives a broad definition of acts of espionage, ie: “Activities carried out, instigated or funded by foreign institutions, organizations and individuals other than espionage organizations and their representatives, or in which domestic institutions, organizations or individuals collude, to steal, pry into, purchase or illegally provide state secrets, intelligence and other documents, data, materials or items related to national security, or in which state employees are incited, enticed, coerced or bought over to turn traitor.”

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘), the great businessman, has humbled himself twice seeking the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) nomination for presidential elections.

With regret and frustration, Gou must be confused as to why he failed. He could not swallow his pride. Doubtless he has the ability to lead the nation and make policy. When he met then-US president Donald Trump in the White House, he even wore a special baseball cap emblazoned with the Republic of China and US flags, showing his acute global perspective. And he is clearly up to handling cross-strait relations: He has met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). What is it about Gou that makes him any less prepared to take on these tasks than former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) four years ago, or New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) this time around? With his tail between his legs, the only thing Gou can do is grumble that fate was simply not on his side.