Fox Anchor John Roberts And Vivek Ramaswamy Clash Over His Policies On Defending Taiwan: ‘They’re Not Just A Factory’

Fox News anchor John Roberts pressed Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on his policy regarding defending Taiwan from China during a Friday appearance on the network.

During the last GOP debate, Vivek faced criticism from former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley over his stances on Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel. Ramaswamy has claimed he wants to pursue an “America First” foreign policy, something former President Donald Trump claims to support as well.

On Friday, Roberts confronted Ramaswamy over his claims that the U.S. should only be interested in defending Taiwan due to their production of semiconductors, noting “they’re not just a factory.”

“You’ve said that you’d fully back Taiwan until the US becomes independent with semiconductors. So what happens after that point? Do we just give Taiwan to China,” Roberts asked the GOP candidate.

Vivek responded by claiming that was an incorrect characterization and he would not “hand them over to China.” Roberts then interrupted by saying, “What you have said is we will fully back Taiwan until we become independent in semiconductor production. My question is, what happens after that?”

“After which point we resume the status quo, which is a strategic ambiguity,” Ramasamy noted. “Both Republicans and Democrats, every other Republican in this race embraces the one-China policy. Strategic ambiguity, refusing to call Taiwan a nation. Recall that President Trump was derided by both parties for picking up a phone call from the Taiwanese president…I’m upgrading to strategic clarity, saying that absolutely we will defend Taiwan until we get semiconductor independence.”

Roberts added in a follow-up question, “Don’t we also support a robust democracy off China’s shores…They’re not just a factory.”

“Absolutely but the fact of the matter is, the current US establishment in both parties, including the Republican Party, does not even recognize Taiwan as a nation right now,” Ramaswamy continued. “John, that’s actually a caricature. It’s laughable to say that when I’m saying Taiwan is a nation that we actually will defend it until and unless we have semiconductor independence and then we resume the status quo. That’s honest.”

Watch above via Fox News.