Terry Gou, founder of Apple supplier Foxconn, quit the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party as Taiwan's richest person on Thursday, paying the way for a run for leader of the island during the upcoming election as an independent candidate.

Gou's aide Tsai Chin-yu said on Thursday that the tech tycoon has decided to quit the KMT with immediate effect.

"The KMT puts party interests ahead of the island's interests, which goes completely against his original intention to join the party," Tsai quoted Gou as saying when talking to reporters in Taipei.

Speculation that Gou might mount an independent bid to unseat incumbent Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen has swirled since the 68-year-old lost to Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu in the party's leadership primary in July.

Gou-Taiwan's richest person with a net worth of $7.6 billion, according to Forbes-stepped down as the head of Foxconn in June. KMT said it "deeply regretted "Gou's decision and urged unity within the party to win the election.

Tsai Chin-yu said Gou's decision to resign as a member of the KMT isn't linked to a decision on whether to run for leader of Taiwan, although she visited the Central Election Commission-Taiwan's top election agency-about the paperwork needed to wage an independent campaign for leadership.

The campaign office is doing preparation, and Gou will make the final decision, Tsai Chin-yu said on Tuesday.

Gou has until Tuesday, the deadline to register as a candidate, to decide. He would face Han and incumbent Taiwan leader Tsai Ingwen of the Democratic Progressive Party in the January election.

Peace, stability and Taiwan's future economy are his core values, Gou said at the KMT's headquarters in Taipei in April when he announced his plan to enter Taiwan's 2020 leadership election. That same month, Gou criticized Tsai Ing-wen via social media for her administration's hostile policy toward the mainland, saying that the key to Taiwan's participation in regional economic cooperation lies in the mainland.

China Daily-AP