Chapter 1 East Asia

One China Policy

* 1949: Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists (I.e.: Kuomintang, i.e.: Chinese Nationalist Party**) lose civil war** that restarted after WW II to Mao Zedong’s Communist forces who establish the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists sets up a one-party government-in-exile on Taiwan (i.e.: The Republic of China). Both Countries see themselves as the true government of One China.

* 1949: The USA and UN retained recognition of the Republic of China (i.e.: Taiwan) as the government of China as Taiwan (i.e.: The Republic of China) retained the permanent seat on the UN security council.

* 1971: Taiwan loses U.N. seat held since 1946 as the Republic of China, to the People’s Republic of China. Taiwan’s diplomatic allies dwindle to 23 by 2008 and 15 by 2022 as most countries in the world switch recognition to China, often after heavy PRC influence.

* 1979: the United States declares the government of the People’s Republic of China is “the sole legal Government of China.”

* 2005: China’s parliament passes anti-secession bill authorizing use of force if Taiwan declares independence.

East Asian Climate areas

East Asia’s climate can be generally categorized as:

Northwest: Dry, notably the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts surrounded by semi-arid

Southwest: Polar Tundra due to the high elevation of the Tibetan Plateau

Northeast: Continental Temperate (includes most of the Koreas and northern Japan**)**

Southeast: Subtropical Rainy (includes Taiwan, Japan (Tokyo southward) and southern tip of South Korea)

East Asia Monsoon

Winters are drier as the Siberian High promotes cold, dry northwesterly winds

Summers are wetter as the Asiatic Low promotes warm, moist air to flow from the southeast

China’s Wet/Dry Line

To the west of the North China Plains and Manchuria is a diagonal “line” of rapid elevation increase. It is generally dry to the west of this increased elevation, and wet to the east of this line. (easier to understand looking at a map)

Desertification

Desertification is a serious problem as the Gobi desert is expanding in northern China, largely due to deforestation, much of which occurred during Mao’s Great Leap forward. China is addressing this by creating the “Green Wall of China,” a man-made forest of millions of trees and shrubs. The project started in 1978 and is expected to continue until 2050.

Tibetan Plateau

* The largest and highest plateau in the world

* Often referred to as the “Third Pole” as only the poles have more fresh water locked up in ice

* It feeds most of the major East, South, and Southeast Asian rivers including the Yangtze, Yellow, Pearl, Mekong, Salween, Irrawaddy, Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra rivers.

* Global warming threatens the future flow of all of these major rivers as glaciers shrink

Tsunamis

While tsunamis can be caused by landslides, volcanoes, and asteroids, most tsunamis in East and Southeast Asia, including the 2004 Indonesia and 2011 Japanese tsunamis, are triggered by underwater earthquakes.

During large earthquakes, the seafloor can suddenly be propelled upward, displacing water upward. Gravity then pulls the water back down toward Earth. The energy from this event moves as multiple energy waves travelling through the water at over 500 mph. As these waves approach the coast, friction from the shallower sea causes the front edge of the wave to slow down to 40 mph or less. Since the energy of the wave remains the same, as the back end of the wave continues forward at a faster rate, the wave compresses, forcing large ocean waves to form. Oftentimes, as the wave compresses, water from the shoreline will rush out to sea moments before the large tsunami inundates the coast. A series of tsunamis often pushes water far inland, before a secondary event occurs as the water eventually rushes back out to sea. (easier to see/understand from diagrams/videos on slides)

Three Gorges Dam

The Chinese completed this dam, the largest in in world, on the Yangtze River in 2006. It is one of over 20,000 dams in the country (not all hydroelectric)

The dam has three major benefits:

* Flood control

* Hydroelectricity

* Expands navigation further westward

The dam has many negative impacts including:

* Flooded many archaeological sites

* Flooded many cultural sites

* Displaced 1.3 million persons

* Ecological impact

South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP)

The PRC’s inter-basin water transfer scheme (the world’s largest) to deliver massive quantities of fresh water from the Huang He and Chiang Jiang river systems to the burgeoning urban areas of northern China that face severe water shortages.

Hanification

Imparting a cultural imprint by the ethnic Chinese (the “people of Han”). Within China often refers to the steadily increasing migration of Han Chinese into the country’s periphery, especially Xinjiang and Xizang (Tibet). Overseas Chinese imprints, more generally referred to as Sinicization, have been significant as well, most important in the Southeast Asian realm.

Japanese population issues

* Most of Japan’s population (97%) lives on the island of Honshu between Tokyo and Osaka

* 99% of Japan’s population is ethnically Japanese

* Japan’s population peaked at 128 million in 2004 and is projected to fall to around 95 million in 2050.

* Japan’s 2050 labor force could be nearly half the size of its 2000 labor force (~44% smaller)

* Japan is highly educated and productive with a 99% literacy rate

China’s One-, Two- and Three-Child Policies

* China had a young and rapidly growing population in the 1960s and 1970s. It was also having difficulty fighting famine.

* China began promoting birth control and family planning in the 1960’s. The introduction of birth control had and continues to have the biggest impact on reducing births in China, not the one-child policy.

* In 1980, China began strictly enforcing a one-child policy (This only applied to Han Chinese and some exceptions were made)

* These and other family planning policies led to China developing a “beehive” population pyramid, threating the country with a smaller labor force in the future, among other issues.

* China addressed this demographic issue by loosening their regulations to a 2-child policy in 2015.

* In May 2021, China further eased their population control measures by implementing the current 3-child policy.

* Despite the potential labor force issue, China retains the world’s largest population.

Gender imbalance

The demographic imbalance of males outnumbering females resulting from selective birth control. In China, this is an outcome of the One-Child Policy.

Dependency ratio

An indicator of the pressure on a country’s workers, the age-population ratio of (dependent) people who are not in the labor force to those (productive) people who are in the labor force.

Stan Chi Smile Curve

This is an economic concept, not an established law or theory. However, it helps explain why the average citizen in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are far wealthier than the average Chinese citizen.

The smile curve was designed to show the activities with the highest “value added” as one moves along the production cycle of electronics equipment. It shows research and development (R & D), branding, design, distribution, marketing and sales add more value to a finished product than manufacturing/assembly which has the lowest value added.

This helps explain why the “knowledge-driven” economies of South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan have higher average income than China which has specialized in the assembly of goods. China is aware of this concept and it thus focusing on developing/promoting more of their own brands and increasing research and development investments.

State capitalism

Government-controlled corporations competing under free-market conditions, usually in a tightly regimented society.

Chaebol

A large industrial South Korean conglomerate run and controlled by an individual or family. Hyundai, Samsung, LG, and SK are the four largest Chaebols.

Deng Xiaoping’s Economic Reform and Open Door Policy

In 1978. under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese government began to pursue an open-door policy, in which it adopted a stance to achieve economic growth through the active introduction of foreign capital, technology, agricultural reform, and free market principles while maintaining its commitment to socialism. Deng Xiaoping described this philosophy as “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.”

Prior to these reforms, China operated a Socialist Command Economy that was suffering after the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution.

Key Features of this reform included:

* Promoting Foreign Direct Investment by creating 5 Special Economic Zones and 14 coastal cities that operated outside the Command Economy. These areas provided tax and regulatory incentives to foreign investors as well as enabled them to operate under free market principles.

* Reformed agriculture by ending collective farms and established the Household Responsibility System (farmers could sell excess product above their quota on the free market, providing an incentive to grow more)

* Allow Entrepreneurial Endeavors

Foreign direct investment

A key indicator of the success of an emerging market economy, whose growth is accelerated by the infusion of foreign funds to supplement domestic sources of investment capital

Japan as a Colonial Empire

After the US instigated the end of Japanese isolation from the world in 1850s, Japan rapidly reformed and adapted to modern technologies. By the 1890’s, it was a colonial power. Japan took control of Taiwan and Korea in the 1890’s and formally annexed Korea in 1910. Japan invaded and took control of Manchuria in 1931. Japan lost its colonies after they lost World War II.

Treaty of San Francisco

This treaty, signed in 1951, ended the legal state of war between Japan and the Allied Powers (although the USSR did not participate while China and Korea were not invited). It also outlined Japan’s terms of re-establishing peace with the west, including the renouncement of their sovereignty over Taiwan, Korea, and the Kuril Islands.

However, the treaty did not clearly outline every island that Japan controlled creating ambiguity. This has led to modern day diplomatic disputes over the 1) Senkaku/Diaoyu islands dispute between Japan and China/Taiwan and 2) the Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo/Takeshima Islands) between Japan and both North and South Korea who both claim them.

Since the USSR did not sign this treaty, Japan still claims the four southernmost Kuril Islands which has led to a dispute between Japan and Russia.

Belt and Road Initiative

China’s global development strategy, announced in 2013, involving over a hundred infrastructure-investment projects. Some serve to connect China to surrounding countries (e.g., Kazakhstan or Laos), others support infrastructure developments within or between countries around the world. The BRI has significantly increased China’s global presence

North Korean Government

* An Authoritarian State led by three generations of the Kim family

* Allocates much of their resources to the military and nuclear weapons program

* Due to their outcast position from the world, they are largely self-sufficient leading to many severe famines and a GDP that is well below the rest of East Asia

*Have not agreed to a Peace Treaty with South Korea, thus the Korean War was not technically ended

Special Administration Regions

China has two “Special Administrative Regions:”

*Hong Kong was returned to China from the United Kingdom in 1997. It is scheduled to be fully absorbed into China in 2047. Hong Kong is a financial hub and the busiest port in the world.

* Macau was returned to China from Portugal in 1999. It is scheduled to be fully absorbed into China in 2049. Macau is often referred to as “the Las Vegas of China” as it is the only place to legally gamble within China’s jurisdiction.

*Macau and Hong Kong are both among the highest per capita incomes in the world

*China is eroding the autonomous elements of Macau and Hong Kong

Nine-Dashed-Line

A map used by Chinese authorities to indicate Chinese claims to the South China Sea.

Mongolia

*Mining, especially coal, is the leading export industry driving the country’s growth

*Mongolia is an urbanizing country with over 70% of the population living in cities

*Nearly half the country’s population lives in the Capital city of Ulaanbaatar

Chapter 11 Southeast Asia

Super volcanos

SE Asia, especially Indonesia, has many super volcanoes, a large volcano that has had an eruption with a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 8, the largest recorded value on the index.

When super volcanos erupt, the magma chamber is emptied. The weight of the earth often can not be supported after the magmas ejection and sinks under it own weight. This leaves behind a caldera, a large depression formed when a volcano erupts and collapses.

Volcanic Islands

*Sumatra, Indonesia

*Java, Indonesia

*Sulawesi, Indonesia

*Lesser Sundra Islands (includes Bali), Indonesia

*New Guinea, Indonesia

*Luzon, Philippines

Borneo, Indonesia is a continental island

Hydroelectric Production

In addition to China, two countries which produce a lot of hydroelectricity are Laos and Bhutan. Laos wants to become the “battery of Southeast Asia.”

SE Asia Climates

* Between 0 and 10 degrees: Tropical Rainy (Indonesia, Malaysia, south Philippines)

* Between 10 and 20 degrees: Tropical Winter Dry (Summer Wet) (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam,

north Philippines)

* From 20 degrees northward: Subtropical Winter Dry (Summer Wet) Laos, north Burma)

* Why not 23.5 degrees??? The Siberian High pushes cold weather further south in winter and the northern parts of mainland Southeast Asia are at higher elevations

El Nino

*A climatic event that occurs every 2 to 7 years when the Pacific trade winds weaken

*During El Nino years, Southeast Asia is drier than normal.

Palm Oil

*Indonesia and Malaysia are the two leading palm oil producers in the world.

*Palm oil is in about half the products in a typical grocery store

Palm Oil has lots of benefits:

*Provides an enormous economic opportunity for lower income person in SE Asia

* Very dense caloric levels require less land than other oil seeds

*Palm oil is inexpensive compared to other oil seeds

Palm oil is also causing enormous environmental harm:

*Rainforests are destroyed to create palm oil plantations

*Destroys the precious habitat of many endangered species

*Clearing forests often causes peat fires which can smolder for years and pollute the air

*Human trafficking is often involved in the palm oil industry

Subsistence agriculture

Farmers who eke out a living on a small plot of land on which they are only able to grow enough food to support their families or at best a small community.

South China Sea

*Most countries follow the Law of the Seas

* Countries have 13.8 miles of Territorial Waters

* Countries have 230 miles of Exclusive Economic Zone

* Countries split the difference if these numbers overlap

*China acknowledges their own 9-dash line in the South China Sea

*****China’s sea and island claims overlap and conflict with many SE Asian Countries rights

SE Asia Countries and their Colonizers

Thailand-not colonized

Laos-France

Cambodia-France

Vietnam-France

Burma (Myanmar) – United Kingdom

Malaysia- United Kingdom (by default: Singapore- United Kingdom; Brunei – United Kingdom)

Indonesia- Netherlands

East Timor-Portugal

Philippines-Spain/United States

Predominant Religion of SE Asia Countries

Burma (Myanmar) – (Theravada) Buddhism

Thailand-(Theravada) Buddhism

Laos-(Theravada) Buddhism

Cambodia- (Theravada) Buddhism

Vietnam- (Mahayana) Buddhism

Malaysia- Islam

Singapore- Islam

Brunei – Islam

Indonesia- Islam

East Timor- Roman Catholic

Philippines- Roman Catholic

**Remote Areas-Animist (**the attribution of a soul to plants, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena.)

Religions that Originated in South Asia

*Hinduism

***Buddhism (**northern India and Nepal)

*Sikhism (Punjab region)

*Jainism

Country Characteristics

Thailand

*Constitutional Monarchy (present king not highly respected among much of population)

*Coups have been common over the past 70 years (17 coups)

*People are presently protesting most recent coup and covid response

*****Has succeeded in attracting foreign direct investment for manufacturing. Exports account for 2/3 of GDP.

*Wealthier per capita than Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia combined

*World’s largest exporter of rice

Vietnam

*****Having recent success emulating as a mini-China. A communist government whose “Doi Moi “economic reforms incorporated free market principles.

Laos

*Struggling to become a mini-Vietnam. A communist government which is trying to incorporate free market principles.

*Government corruption and being a landlocked country is holding them back

* Trying to become the “Battery of Southeast Asia” by developing hydroelectricity. However, upstream dam building by China threatens their efforts.

* Nearly three quarters of population involved in subsistence agriculture yet ag is just 21% of GDP

Cambodia

*Garments are their largest export, mostly produced by young women

* War torn infrastructure, has led to being one of the poorest countries in Asia

*Export-driven economy, albeit lower value, labor intensive goods has led to recent growth

Burma (Myanmar)

* The USA does not recognize the name Myanmar

*The military controlled the country until it became a “Democracy” in 2011

*The Buddhist Burman Military committed ethnic cleansing against the Muslim Rohingya

*****People are actively protesting the recent military coup

Indonesia

*The fourth largest population in the world (Behind China, India, and the United States)

*The largest Muslim Population in the World (ahead of #2 Pakistan, #3 India, and #4 Bangladesh)

*A plethora of both “hard” (you dig for) and tropical “soft” (you grow) commodities

*****Island of Java densely populated. Moving capital to combat overpopulated and sinking city.

*Former member of OPEC

*****Government owns all oil and mineral right. Complex regulatory environment hinders foreign direct investment.

*Long-led by the “World’s All-Time Most Corrupt Politician. Government slowly improving the country’s ability to attract foreign investments.

Philippines

*****Should be more successful than it is. Protectionism and complex regulations hinder foreign direct investments.

*Violent Islamic Insurgency in the south

*President Duterte controversial figure. Under international scrutiny for his war on drugs (capital punishment without due process).

Malaysia

*The next South Korea? Middle income country expected to become a high income country by 2020 between 2024 and 2028. (number keeps being pushed back)

*Success came from educating population, promoting savings, and following the East Asian Model of State Capitalism, focusing on electronic exports to the west.

*Despite progress, it is stuck in the **“Middle Income Trap” (**low cost advantage disappears with rising prosperity)

*Plethora of commodities

Singapore

*One of the wealthiest countries in the world (masters of the “Smile Curve”: take cheap raw materials from Indonesia and Malaysia, add value, become rich. Specializes in many of the highest value industries including finance, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, electronics, information technology, communications, medical and optical equipment)

*The movie “Crazy Rich Asians” was set here with good reason

*One of the cleanest and safest places in world, partly due to **strict social regulations (**be on your best behavior, don’t use other people’s Wi-Fi, don’t chew gum, don’t spit, don’t litter, don’t sing in public, don’t walk around your hotel room undressed, make certain to flush public toilets, and definitely, certainly don’t feed the pigeons!!)

Brunei

*An oil-rich sultanate (Islamic Monarchy) It is like a mini-Saudi Arabia plopped onto the island of Borneo.

*One of the world’s wealthiest countries on a per capita basis

*People are well educated and cared for, but have limited individual freedoms

East Timor

*Often ranked among poorest countries in world

*Only SE Asian country that is not a member of ASEAN

*Indonesia attacked and killed nearly half their population within days of their Independence from Portugal in 1975. Indonesia finally granted their Independence in 2002.

*Offshore oil has potential to improve country’s wealth as they have finally come to terms with Australia on oil and drilling rights

ASEAN

Every SE Asian country is a member of The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) except for East Timor. ASEAN began as a defense alliance against communism but has expanded and evolved into an economic alliance.

Chapter 9 South Asia

South Asia Climate

**-**Much of the region below 23.5 degrees is tropical, winter dry (summer wet)

-Much of the region above 23.5 degrees is subtropical, winter dry (summer wet)

-Distinct monsoon season with dry winters, wet summers also fed by low pressure over India in summer

-Northeast India may be wettest region in the world

-coastal area on the (summer) windward side of Western Ghats also has very high levels of rain

-Thar desert in northwest India, extending into southeast Pakistan

**-**mountainous regions of Bhutan, Nepal and Afghanistan range from subpolar to polar tundra

Monsoon

Refers to the seasonal reversal of wind and moisture flows in certain parts of the subtropics and lower-middle latitudes. The dry monsoon occurs during the cool season when dry offshore winds prevail. The wet monsoon occurs in the hot summer months, which produce onshore winds that bring large amounts of rainfall. The air-pressure differential over land and sea is the triggering mechanism, with wind-flows always moving from areas of relatively higher pressure toward areas of relatively lower pressure. Monsoons make their greatest regional impact in the coastal and near-coastal zones of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia.

Predominant Religion

Afghanistan-Islam

Pakistan-Islam (2nd largest Muslim population)

Bangladesh-Islam (4th largest Muslim population)

Maldives-Islam

India-Hindu (also 3rd largest Muslim population despite being only 15% of total population)

Nepal-Hindu

Bhutan- Vajrayana Buddhism

Sri Lanka- Theravada Buddhism

Indo-European languages

The major world language family that dominates the European geographic realm. This language family is also the most widely dispersed globally (Fig. G-8), and about half of humankind speaks one of its languages.

Dravidian languages

The language family, indigenous to the South Asian realm, that dominates southern India today; as opposed to the Indo-European languages, whose tongues dominate northern India**.**

Country Characteristics

India

*2nd largest population in world set to surpass China as the largest population

*Very successful exporting business, IT, back-office, and software engineering services

*****Economy took off when they ended Gandhi-inspired self-sufficiency and protectionism and moved toward global free trade. Bureaucratic red-tape still a problem in their economy.

*Tens of millions of well-educated, English-speaking citizens

*Has more people in poverty (421 million) than the USA has people (330 million)

*The Ganges, India’s most sacred river, is very polluted

*Caste system is still relevant, Hindu-nationalism is on the rise

*Tensions are high in Jammu and Kashmir which is claimed by India, Pakistan, and China

Cities in India

Mumbai (formerly Bombay) “The City of Dreams”

*****India’s national stock exchange and Reserve Bank

*Bollywood (India’s version of Hollywood)

*Wealthiest city in India

*Dharavi (one of the world’s largest “slums”)

Calcutta

*****The Capital of British India

*Congested, more traditional

*Has King Cobras slithering around

Delhi

*Capital of India

*Taj Mahal NOT located here (it is in nearby Agra)

Bangalore

*****Center of India IT Industry

Caste system

The strict social stratification and residential segregation of people—specifically in India’s Hindu society—on the basis of ancestry and occupation.

Dalits

Term (meaning “the oppressed”) used for the lowest caste in India’s Hindu caste system. The official government rubric for Dalits is Scheduled Castes.

Partition

The subdivision of the British Indian Empire into India and Pakistan (which included Banglasesh) at the end of colonial rule on August 15, 1947.

Hindutva (Hindu Nationalism)

“Hinduness” as expressed through Hindu nationalism, Hindu heritage, and/or Hindu patriotism. The cornerstone of a fundamentalist movement that has been gaining strength since the late twentieth century that seeks to remake India as a society dominated by Hindu principles. It has been the guiding agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has emerged a powerful force in national politics and in big States like Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh.

Pakistan

*Security risks holds back country despite large number of educated, English speaking citizens

*Separated from India (along with Bangladesh) at independence as the country fractured along religious lines

*Textile production is a major industry

Bangladesh

*Garments are their largest export, mostly produced by young women

*A large area of the country floods annually

Double delta

South Asia’s combined delta formed by the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers. All of Bangladesh lies on this enormous deltaic plain, which also encompasses surrounding parts of eastern India. Well over 200 million people live here, attracted by the fertility of its soils that are constantly replenished by the silt transported and deposited by these two of Asia’s largest river systems. Natural hazards abound here as well, ranging from the flooding caused by excessive monsoonal rains to the intermittent storm surges of powerful cyclones (hurricanes) that come from the Bay of Bengal to the south.

Bhutan

* An official Buddhist country that strives to put spirituality and happiness as its tops priorities

* Measures progress through “Gross National Happiness”

*Prevented foreign visitors until 1974

*Developing Hydroelectricity as a main economic strategy

Gross National Happiness Index

A set of measures of well-being designed initially by the country of Bhutan in 1972, giving more or less equal weight to economic and social indicators of well-being (e.g., education or environmental conditions).

Nepal

*An already poor country devastated by earthquakes in 2015 and 2017 (think about what you see in Haiti now)

*Mt Everest

Maldives

*The lowest lying country in the world with an average elevation of 1.5 meters

*A thriving Tourism industry has made it a middle income country

Sri Lanka

*****Still impacted of bloody civil war between the majority Buddhist Sinhalese and Hindu Tamil Tigers who fought for independence

*Economy recovering due to tea and tourism

Afghanistan

*US ousted Taliban government in 2001 (Taliban are strict Islamic Fundamentalists that harbored Al Qaeda members and ruled the country with strict Sharia Law, severely limiting the rights of women, outlawing items associated with the West such as TVs, radios, internet and kites and severely punished violations of the law with physical mutilations and capital punishment, including public hangings.

*Taliban has retaken control of Afghanistan in August 2021 as America pulled out its military

*Produce a large majority of world’s Opium

*****Enormous mineral potential but security risks and poor infrastructure limits development

*Outside of opium and subsistence agriculture, the economy largely functions by International Donor Support, much of this is currently being withheld due to Taliban control

*Rugged Hindu Kush mountains served as a defensive base for the Mujahadeen and Al Qaeda

Non-governmental organization (NGO)

A legitimate organization that operates independently from any form of government and does not function as a for-profit business. Mostly seeks to improve social conditions, but is not affiliated with political organizations.