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Ryan Hass
@ryanl_hass
Brookings scholar on China, Taiwan, Asia. Sr Advisor at The Scowcroft Group, McLarty Associates. Husband to Meredith and father of four. Author of “Stronger.”
Washington, DC
brookings.edu/experts/ryan-h…
Joined July 2017
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  • user avatar
    Ryan Hass
    @ryanl_hass
    Apr 8, 2025
    1/ Based on ongoing discussions in China, I am skeptical Beijing will blink on Pres. Trump’s recent tariff escalation threats. Chinese leaders understand holding firm will be economically costly. They’re preparing public to tolerate pain. Politics may drive decisions. (🧵).
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  • user avatar
    Ryan Hass
    @ryanl_hass
    Apr 5, 2025
    Anyone expecting President Xi to come calling and seek a call with President Trump following April 2 tariff announcement is being dangerously naive. Anyone advising Trump that Xi will beg for forgiveness is committing malpractice. That is not the mood or the plan in Beijing now.
    154K
  • user avatar
    Ryan Hass
    @ryanl_hass
    Apr 12, 2025
    1/ Following 10 days of travel in China, I feel China's plan for the US-China trade war is coming into focus around three central planks: - Maintain composure and resolve; - Avoid being isolated; - Hit America where it hurts. Beijing assumes no near-term resolution. (Short 🧵).
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  • user avatar
    Ryan Hass
    @ryanl_hass
    Apr 8, 2025
    Replying to @ryanl_hass
    6/ Beijing won’t be able to match US escalation, but may look for other asymmetric response options. Official media will signal defiance and resolve. Beijing may tout inroads in external markets and promote domestic consumption. We’re far from end of story. Buckle up! End.
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  • user avatar
    Ryan Hass
    @ryanl_hass
    Apr 8, 2025
    Replying to @ryanl_hass
    2/ Beijing doesn’t expect any breakthroughs or negotiations with Trump administration on horizon. They are digging in. They do not have clarity on what Trump is trying to achieve and are filling the vacuum with their own assumption, i.e., Trump’s goal is to undermine PRC economy.
    51K
  • user avatar
    Ryan Hass
    @ryanl_hass
    Mar 13, 2022
    1/ This scoop provides important texture to meeting in Rome tomorrow. It feels like the US-China relationship is moving toward a pretty significant fork. If China materially contributes to Russia's war machine in Ukraine through provision of materiel or significant backfilling...
    user avatar
    Demetri
    @AsiaLens
    Mar 13, 2022
    Replying to @AsiaLens
    The US is preparing to tell its allies in Europe and Asia amid signs that China may be willing to help Putin. Comes as US national security adviser Jake Sullivan is about to meet top Chinese foreign policy official Yang Jiechi in Rome on Monday. Alaskaesque fireworks?
  • user avatar
    Ryan Hass
    @ryanl_hass
    Apr 8, 2025
    Replying to @ryanl_hass
    5/ In other words, there are factors larger than raw calculations of economic output that will drive decisions in Beijing. Anyone expecting that Beijing will need to fold to protect its economic interests likely will be disappointed.
    53K
  • user avatar
    Ryan Hass
    @ryanl_hass
    Apr 8, 2025
    Replying to @ryanl_hass
    4/ Xi also has his own politics to manage. He likely will go to great lengths to protect his political brand as a strong defender of national pride and honor. He doesn’t want to allow a perception to emerge at home or abroad of being muscled around by Trump.
    50K
  • user avatar
    Ryan Hass
    @ryanl_hass
    Apr 8, 2025
    Replying to @ryanl_hass
    3/ PRC leaders are skeptical that capitulating to Trump’s latest demands would resolve underlying challenge from the United States, which they judge is to undermine PRC economic strength. From this vantage, they assume there is little incentive to make concessions now.
    56K
  • user avatar
    Ryan Hass
    @ryanl_hass
    Oct 9, 2025
    This is the new reality of US-China relations. China has spent the past several years building tools to reciprocate US actions and remind the US of its leverage. This action is consistent with PRC behavior all year - hold firm, hit US where it hurts, leave door open to negotiate.
    user avatar
    Gerard DiPippo
    @gdp1985
    Oct 9, 2025
    Quite the day for Chinese export controls... Big things are happening.
    126K
  • user avatar
    Ryan Hass
    @ryanl_hass
    Jun 16, 2020
    When Japanese friends are saying this, US needs to listen and adjust: “we no longer see the US rally allies around values — we fear that they are using countries as pawns, as bargaining chips. This kind of insecurity is very new and very disconcerting.”
    The Trump factor: Asian allies question America’s reliability
    From ft.com
  • user avatar
    Ryan Hass
    @ryanl_hass
    Apr 10, 2025
    1/ Secretary Lutnick’s message is important for setting expectations. Chinese President Jiang Zemin sent a telegram of condolence to George W Bush on September 11, 2001, but beyond that, it is exceedingly rare for a PRC leader to initiate outreach to a US president. (🧵)
    user avatar
    Margaret Brennan
    @margbrennan
    Apr 9, 2025
    Commerce Secretary Lutnick says he is not engaging with China and neither has the Treasury Secretary. He says Trump wants to negotiate directly with Xi Jinping. "If we get a contact, we will just pass it to the President, and this is really about him. He has said publicly that
    175K
  • user avatar
    Ryan Hass
    @ryanl_hass
    Feb 3, 2022
    1/ As Xi and Putin prepare to meet in Beijing in the coming hours, I expect there will be a new wave of commentary about how Beijing might see benefits from a Russia-Ukraine conflict. I would advise interrogating those arguments a bit. Here's why:
  • user avatar
    Ryan Hass
    @ryanl_hass
    Sep 5, 2023
    1/ Whether you are a Cold War historian or a casual observer of the news, I commend this written debate to you. In a series of crisp exchanges, four leading experts make their case for whether the US and China are in a cold war. (Short thread)
    Should the US pursue a new Cold War with China? | Brookings
    From brookings.edu
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