Timeshare salesman Vivek Ramaswamy’s inexperience and ignorance of US foreign affairs stepped into the spotlight again. As he responded to a straightforward question from John Roberts, the Fox propaganda outlet personality, not the Supreme Court Chief Justice.  Asked about US support for Taiwan, Ramaswamy declared the US should abandon its support for Taiwan once the US increases its computer chip and processor manufacturing, something for which the US and the world rely on Taiwan, which makes about 90% of the world’s high-end processors. 

Calling the 50-year US “One China” policy “insufficient,” Ramaswamy explained his policy is based on the need to exploit Taiwanese chip production, not defend the democratic government of Taiwan.  “We have to be crystal clear that we will defend Taiwan, so I am upgrading to strategic clarity, saying absolutely we will defend Taiwan, until we get semiconductor independence, ’cause that’s why Taiwan matters most to the US:  they provide the chips that power our modern way of life.  And after that we resume the current status quo.”  So, in essence, Vivek says he’s change the relationship between the countries, while maintaining the status quo.  This, ladies and gentlemen, is the kind of nonsensical nuance that marks the Ramaswamy campaign.

Set aside that if you actually listen to what Ramaswamy is saying, he’s using a lot of words to say he wouldn’t change a damn thing about the relationship with China, but he flubbed his response by initially claiming he would change the status when Taiwan’s leverage as a trading partner diminished as Joe Biden’s plan to manufacture chips in the US comes to fruition.

The type of transactionally-based international relationship Ramaswamy outlines demonstrates his naivety in foreign affairs, believing that US diplomatic relationships only exist for the economic exploitation of a nation, not for long-standing goals of defeating oppression and authoritarianism while promoting democratic ideals.