MADISON - The head of the Taiwanese company that plans to bring thousands of jobs to Wisconsin five years ago compared his workers to animals and had the director of a zoo give his executives management tips.

"(Foxconn parent company) Hon Hai has a workforce of over one million worldwide and as human beings are also animals, to manage one million animals gives me a headache," Foxconn CEO Terry Gou was quoted saying in 2012 at a company party held at the Taipei Zoo.

Foxconn last week unveiled plans to build a $10 billion, 20-million-square-foot complex in Wisconsin that would employ 3,000 people initially and up to 13,000 ultimately. The plan for the flat-panel television screen factory is contingent on lawmakers giving the company $3 billion in incentives and relaxing environmental regulations.

RELATED:Official to lawmakers: Foxconn's Wisconsin payroll could reach $800 million annually

RELATED: How Wisconsin sought to win Foxconn

FULL COVERAGE: Foxconn updates

Soon after making his comments five years ago, Gou had Chin Shih-chien, the director of the zoo, participate in Foxconn parent company’s annual review and spoke to his executives about how to manage animals based on their temperaments, according to Want China Times, a Taiwan-based news outlet that has since ceased publication.

"I am managing over one million animals every day and it's such a headache. But our zoo chief knows that he can put tigers and lions together, but not tigers and chickens together. So I want to learn from him," Gou said at the company party at the zoo, according to a translation of his comments shown on FTV, a cable news station in Taiwan.

In response to news reports, Foxconn at the time released a statement that said Gou did not mean to speak negatively about his employees but understood his comments could be misinterpreted.

“In an effort to encourage his management team to learn from all aspects of life, Mr. Gou did say that, since all humans are members of the animal kingdom, it might be possible to learn from Mr. Chin’s experience as his team looks for lessons that can be applied to business," according to the statement posted on the technology website TechCrunch.com.

“Mr. Gou’s comments were directed at all humans and not at any specific group.”

Foxconn has taken criticism for working conditions at its vast Chinese factories where iPhones are assembled. Workers have committed suicide by throwing themselves from Foxconn buildings often enough that the company put up netting to catch workers.

A Foxconn spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Gov. Scott Walker spokesman Jack Jablonski called the coverage of the comments in Taiwan "tabloid journalism" that has "subsequently been clarified and dismissed."

"The governor has every reason to believe that Mr. Gou’s commitment and belief in Wisconsin will benefit 13,000 working families who will get an average annual wage of over $53,000 plus benefits from this historic investment," Jablonski said in a statement. "The governor appreciates Mr. Gou's and Foxconn's investment in the people of Wisconsin."

A Wisconsin Assembly committee held a hearing Thursday on the incentive package. Assembly leaders plan to hold a floor vote in mid-August, but the package could move more slowly in the Senate. Both houses are controlled by Walker's fellow Republicans.

Mike Browne, deputy director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, said Gou's 2012 comments show lawmakers should be wary of the incentive package Walker is promoting.

"The Foxconn CEO’s animosity to workers and his corporation’s documented poor treatment of them is yet another red flag," Browne said in a statement.

"Before we spend one dime of our tax dollars to subsidize Foxconn’s operations, there need to be ironclad worker protections written into law."