The founder of Apple Inc.’s key Taiwan-based supplier Foxconn Technology Group said US equities would tumble in the wake of any war involving the island that China claims as its territory.
“It may only take 10 seconds — not an hour or a month — for the Wall Street stock market to collapse if a war breaks out in the Taiwan Strait,” Taiwanese billionaire Terry Gou said in a Facebook post.
Gou had been the subject of speculation that he may run as an independent in Taiwan’s January presidential election, although he has indicated that’s not his intention. Last month, he called for Taiwan and China to resume direct talks.
While Taiwan might be able to resist any Chinese invasion for three months, the impact on the world economy would be enormous and immediate, according to Gou.
Warnings of military conflicts with China, the world’s second-largest economy, have been growing as tensions between Beijing and Washington escalate over Taiwan and other issues. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday he’s worried that miscalculations between the two superpowers risk escalating to war.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has said he believes a war between China and Taiwan is likely if tensions continue on their current course.
Gou, whose company assembles the bulk of Apple Inc.’s iPhones in China, made an unsuccessful bid for Taiwan’s top job in 2019. He has traveled to the US at least twice this year in an apparent effort to rev up his bid to become president.
