Jian Ren
Jian Ren is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution’s History Lab and a historian of modern China and Latin America. His research examines China–Latin America relations and their implications for U.S. strategy in the region.
Chinese Influence in Latin America Leaves Openings for US Diplomacy
In a Hoover Institution analysis, Jian Ren argues that China’s economic influence in Latin America is more durable than individual investments but less controllable than Beijing’s confidence suggests. The movement of Chinese nationals and companies abroad can produce legal and reputational problems that the state cannot easily manage. Ren says the United States can use its existing role in visa screening, alongside regional dialogue and independent China expertise, to give Latin American governments stronger reasons to work with Washington.
China Could Pressure Taiwan Into Submission Without Invading
In Defending Taiwan, Eyck Freymann argues that U.S. strategy is too narrowly focused on deterring a Chinese invasion and is underprepared for a gray-zone crisis that could isolate Taiwan without open war. Freymann’s case, developed in discussion with Hoover Institution participants including Philip Zelikow, is that Beijing’s most plausible path may be legal, commercial, and coercive control over Taiwan’s external ties. Deterrence, he argues, will require Washington and its allies to integrate military power with political discipline, economic planning, technological leverage, and diplomatic coordination before such a crisis begins.