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Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy said Monday that he would be less attentive to China’s threat to Taiwan once he’s had four years to attain US “semiconductor independence.”
“Xi Jinping should not mess with Taiwan until we have achieved semiconductor independence, until the end of my first term when I will lead us there,” Ramaswamy told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
“After that, our commitments to Taiwan — our commitments to be willing to go to military conflict — will change after that, because that’s rationally in our self-interest. That is honest. That is true, and that is credible.”
Since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, Beijing has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan, but the island maintains its own government, currency, and military.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has made reunification a core objective and kept military force on the table.
Vivek Ramaswamy has seen an uptick in recent polling, catapulting into third place in the latest RCP aggregate.AFP via Getty Images
Top US officials have been concerned about China’s naval buildup in the Indo-Pacific.AP
The US currently operates a so-called “One China” policy, in which Washington acknowledges Beijing’s claim while considering Taiwan’s sovereignty unsettled. The US also engages in “strategic ambiguity” on the matter and has close ties with Taipei.
For more than 70 years, US officials have sought to deter China from launching an invasion by leaving open the specter of American intervention — including with nuclear weapons.
The 38-year-old multimillionaire entrepreneur dubbed Taiwan a “top US interest” due to its production of cutting-edge semiconductors.
“We are dependent on a tiny island nation off the southeast coast of China for our entire modern way of life,” he told Hewitt. “We would not live a modern lifestyle if it were not for the global semiconductor supply chain, specifically leading edge advanced semiconductors that come from Taiwan.”
Vivek Ramaswamy took note of China’s advanced weaponry and naval capabilities.Taiwan?s Military News Agency (M
“You are saying ‘I will go to war, including attacking the Chinese mainland, if you attack before semiconductor independence. And afterwards, you can have Taiwan. So if you just wait until 2029, you may have Taiwan.’ Is that clear?” Hewitt asked. “I mean, that’s what you’re saying. ‘I’ll go to war until 2028 …'”
“Well, Hugh, I’m running to be the next president, and so I expect to be the president inaugurated on January 20th, 2025. So I’m wearing that hat when I’m choosing my words very carefully right now. And I’m being very clear,” the candidate answered.
Ramaswamy was noncommittal about firing the first shot against China if Beijing launched an invasion before 2029, as well as about whether the US could prevail in such a conflict.
China has long dangled the specter of invading Taiwan.EPA
“That depends,” he said. “I think right now, if we take the risk of entering serious major conflict in a circumstance where Russia and China are still in a military alliance with one another and we have not gotten India fully committed … then I think we’re in serious danger of not only losing that conflict, Hugh. I think there are serious threats to the continued existence of the United States of America as we know it.”
Ramaswamy later cut the interview short as Hewitt started to drill down on whether he drew a “red line” with China on Taiwan over the short term, claiming a misunderstanding over how long the conversation would last.
Hewitt thought he would have the candidate for an hour, while Ramaswamy thought it would be a 20 to 30 minute hit, a campaign aide told The Post. The interview lasted about 45 minutes.
Vivek Ramaswamy argued that he was being credible and honest about how the US should handle the Taiwan matter.Getty Images
Ramaswamy first floated the Taiwan timeline in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, this past Friday.
“We will further deter China from annexing Taiwan by shifting from strategic ambiguity to strategic clarity,” he wrote, “we will defend until 2029 but not afterward, at which point we will have full semiconductor independence from Taiwan.”
