Despite prominence, Foxconn’s Terry Gou trails far behind other candidates in Taiwan presidential race: Analysts

Dr Chong Ja Ian, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore, said Mr Gou sports a similar profile to the other two candidates running against DPP’s Mr Lai, which might make it difficult for him to stand out.

“They all supposedly want some sort of closer relationship with China. At the same time, they are all generally pro-business,” said Dr Chong, whose research focuses on international relations in Asia-Pacific and Chinese foreign policy.

In an effort to band the opposition together in a united stance against the ruling DPP, Mr Gou initiated the so-called Mainstream Opinion Alliance and invited fellow presidential hopefuls Hou and Ko.

However, Mr Feingold said the alliance is unlikely to gain a foothold, as each party wants its own candidate to gun for the top job. Neither KMT nor TPP has shown interest in forming a coalition.

“To have some kind of joint ticket, somebody would have to give up being the presidential candidate, and take on some other role if they win, such as the vice president. So far, that simply hasn’t happened, there’s no alliance,” he said.