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SOUTH AND EAST ASIA

Chapter 7

Objectives

This chapter should enable you to:

Appreciate China and India as the demographic and economic giants of early 21st-century Asia

Understand the geopolitical dimensions of the tensions between India and Pakistan, North Korea and the West, and Islamists and governments in Pakistan, and the factors that have given rise to regional insurgencies, including their relationships with faith and economic well-being

Objectives (cont’d.)

Appreciate how the partition of India and other legacies of colonialism created lasting problems in political relations, resource use and allocation, and industrial development

Learn about the cultures associated with rice, and the balance between precipitation, soils, crop varieties, and populations that have consistently allowed production to meet rising demand in the region

Objectives (cont’d.)

Appreciate the catastrophic reach of tsunamis and some of the region’s other natural hazards

Consider the economic discrepancies between China’s rural and urban populations, the forces behind large-scale rural-to-urban migration, and the urban planning that promises to address imbalances

Objectives (cont’d.)

Appreciate that in Korea different political and economic systems have produced dramatically different results for almost identical peoples

Demographic Heavyweights of South and East Asia

This region is home to 55% of world’s population

China and India together have 2.6 billion people, or 37% of the world’s total

Places with high urban densities

Hong Kong, Singapore

Low population densities

Mongolia, Nepal

Population Growth Patterns

Not possible to generalize about population growth in Monsoon Asia

Wide range from 0% (Japan) to 2.7% (Timor-Leste)

Primarily LDCs in the region

Postindustrial Japan worries about its declining population

China’s “one-child policy”

India set to overtake China as world’s most populous country

Wildcard is HIV/AIDS

Physical Geography and Human Adaptations

Inner arc (western)

World’s highest mountain ranges, plateaus, and basins

Middle arc

Low mountains, hills, river floodplains, basins, and the sea

Outer arc (eastern)

Islands and seas

Archipelagoes (clusters of islands)

Climate and Vegetation

Generally warm, well-watered climate

Climate types in region

Tropical rain forest

Tropical savanna

Humid subtropical

Warm and cold humid continental

Desert

Steppe

Subarctic

Undifferentiated highland

Climate and Biomes

Figure 7.5 (a) Climates and (b) biomes of South and East Asia.

The Monsoons

Monsoons are the prevailing sea-to-land and land-to-sea winds

Summer monsoon

High humidity, moist air, predictable rains

More precipitation in elevated areas

Winter Monsoon

Land loses relative warmth while the sea and coastal waters stay warm longer

Wind shifts and air masses flow from inland areas to sea

Long dry season, except for Japan

The Monsoons (cont’d.)

Figure 7.6 This map shows how the monsoons work, with prevailing winds blowing from the sea during the summer, bringing heavy rains, and winds blowing toward the sea in winter, bringing dry conditions.

Agricultural Adaptations

Many soils are infertile

High temperatures and heavy rains

Rapid leaching of mineral nutrients

Decomposition of organic matter

Local soils will not support more than one or two poor harvests

The Importance of Rice

Intensive subsistence agriculture

Built around growing a suite of cereal crops

Shifting cultivation

Capable of sustaining only small populations for brief periods of time

Wet rice cultivation

Capable of producing 2-3 crops per year

Can sustain large populations over long periods of time

Lowland floodplains and upland terraces

Are There Correlations between Agriculture and Culture?

Theory of Himalayan environmental degradation

People overpopulation in Nepal

Clear and cultivate steep lands

Heavy monsoon rains cause erosion

Eroded plots cannot be cultivated again

Landslides occur downslope, causing loss of life

Increased sediment load causes rivers to swell out of banks

Flooding downstream in Bangladesh

Where Asians Live

Villages

Main unit of Asian settlement is the village

Lowland villages tend to be situated on natural levees, dikes, or raised mounds

Cities

Japan is 91% urban

Pronounced rural-to-urban migration

Cultural & Historical Geographies

Cultural developments

First movable printing type (Korea)

Gunpowder, paper, silk, and porcelain (China)

Faiths of Hinduism and Buddhism (India)

Domesticated plants and animals

Rice, cabbage, chickens, water buffalo, zebu cattle, pigs

Ethnic and Linguistic Patterns

Ethnic and linguistic composition is rich and complex

Language families

Indo-European

Sino-Tibetan

Altaic

Austric

Dravidian

Papuan

Languages

Figure 7.11 Languages of South and East Asia.

Religions and Belief Systems

Belief systems practiced by a quarter of the world’s population originated in this region

Hinduism

Buddhism

Confucianism

Daoism

Other practices

Shintoism, ancestor veneration, animism

Effects of European Colonization

Portugal and Spain were first to extend economic and political control over South and Southeast Asia

Colonies

British

Dutch

French

Portuguese

Opium Wars

Effects of European Colonization (cont’d.)

Western domination of Asia ended in 20th Century

After WWII, colonial possessions gained independence

Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997

Portugal returned Macau to China in 1999

Economic Geography

World’s fastest-growing economies

Growing gap between the rich and poor

Asian Tigers

Strong, industrialized export-oriented economies

South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore

New Asian Tigers in Southeast Asia

Japan leads Asia in value-added manufacturing

China’s Surging Economy

Average annual growth rate of 9% since 1990

China is making a little bit of everything

Three-quarters of all toys sold in U.S.

World’s largest manufacturer of personal computers and smartphones

Joined the World Trade Organization in 2001

China’s Economic Arena

Surging investment in China is linked to disinvestment elsewhere, especially in SE Asia

China has eclipsed the United States as Asia’s most essential trading partner

China is the epicenter of prolific Asian trade in pirated products

The Green Revolution

Use science to increase food yields

Stave off hunger

Generate export income

Golden rice

Problems

Financial obstacles

Economic dislocations

Large infusions of agricultural chemicals

Reduction of genetic variability of crops

Nationalism and Nuclear Weapons

Comprehensive test ban treaty

Prohibition of all nuclear testing

Signed by 149 nations and went into effect in 1996

India and Pakistan

In 1998, India conducted 3 underground nuclear tests in the Thar Desert

Pakistan followed with six nuclear tests

Fear of mutually assured destruction

Pivotal countries

Pakistan Since 9/11

Pakistan allowed the U.S. to use the country to prepare for the assault on the Taliban and al-Qa’ida in Afghanistan

U.S. forgave much of Pakistan’s debt and lifted economic sanctions, and post-nuclear test sanctions against India

Semiautonomous Federally Administered Tribal areas (FATA)

Pashtun are sympathetic to the causes of their Taliban ethnic kin and their al-Qa’ida spiritual kin

What Does North Korea Want?

A reunited Korea?

North Korea’s nuclear weapons program

North Korea included in George W. Bush’s “axis of evil”

The only leverage North Korea has had to coax desperately needed supplies from abroad

Six Party Talks in 2007

Series of on-again, off-again negotiations

Islands, Sea Lanes, and Islamists

Indonesia as potential new hearth for al-Qa’ida

Predominantly Muslim population, including extremists

Laskar Jihad and Jemaah Islamiah

American interests in Indonesia

Oil and natural gas

Copper resources

International shipping lanes

South Asia: Faith, Sectarianism, and Strife

India and Pakistan

The Indian subcontinent features great religious differences between the two largest religious groups (Hindus and Muslims)

1947 separation of India and Pakistan

Kashmir

Disputed province straddling border of India, Pakistan, and China

Contains the upper portion of the Indus River and many of its tributaries

Regional Political Geography

Figure 7.28 Before India and Pakistan were partitioned in 1947, they comprised the single unit of British India (sometimes called the Indian Empire). British India was made up of several provinces governed directly by the British and over 500 autonomous “princely states” controlled indirectly by Britain through a local Indian ruler. In 1948, Sri Lanka, Burma, and Sikkim also achieved independence from the UK (the Maldives would remain a colony until 1962). Sikkim gave up its independence to join India as a state in 1975.

South Asia: Faith, Sectarianism, and Strife (cont’d.)

Sri Lanka

Two major ethnic groups:

Sinhalese, Buddhist: about 75% of population

Tamils, Hindu: about 12% of population

Discontent with economic and political conditions, especially minority Tamils

Between 1983 and 2009, more than 70,000 deaths have resulted from the Tamils’ fight for autonomy or independence from Sinhalese government

Tamil Tigers – Tamil fighters wishing to help establish their own homeland

South Asia: The Caste System

Hindus believe every individual is born into a caste, or social subgroup that determines rank and role in society

The lowest group in the caste system are the Dalits, once known as untouchables, accounting for about 20% of all Hindus

In 1950, India’s constitution outlawed the caste system

South Asia: Keeping Malthus at Bay

Poverty and human health

Population surge in India since Independence

352 million in 1947 to 1.3 billion in 2014

32% of the population “abjectly poor”

Agricultural output growing

Women in the population

Outnumbered by men

Low-Lying Bangladesh and Maldives

Bangladesh

Subject to catastrophic flooding

Frequent hurricanes

Increased runoff from the Himalayas due to deforestation

Concerns about rising sea levels

The Maldives

80% of its limited land area is less than 3 feet above sea level

Could become completely submerged as a result of climate change

Afghanistan: Graveyard of Empires

Land of limited resources, poor internal transportation, and little foreign trade

Overwhelmingly agricultural and pastoral

Golden Crescent

USSR realized could not win “Vietnam War”

Withdrew troops from Afghanistan in 1989

Mujahidin, anti-Soviet rebels

Afghanistan: Graveyard of Empires (cont’d.)

The Taliban

After overthrowing Communist government in 1992, the formerly united Afghan rebels engaged in civil warfare

Gained control of most of the country in 1996

Strict code of Islamic law in the region

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. engaged in a “war against terror,” targeting both the Taliban and al-Qa’ida for elimination

Deforestation of Southeast Asia

Aggressive export of the region’s tropical hardwoods

Clearing of land for use as palm oil plantations

Many forests and peat bogs are cleared by burning, emitting CO2

Indonesia is now world’s 5th largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions

Many plants and animals in these forests are endemic species

Deforestation

Figure 7.43 In Southeast Asia, natural forest cover has been rapidly reduced by many human activities, especially commercial logging and farming.

The Great Tsunami of 2004

December 26, 2004

Magnitude 9.1 earthquake off the northwestern coast of Sumatra

Over 200,000 total death toll

Greatest number of deaths (over 130,000) occurred in Indonesia

As many as 2 million people made homeless by this disaster

Installation of an early warning system in the Indian Ocean region became a priority, and was completed in 2006

2004 Tsunami

Figure 7.46 The epicenter of the 2004 earthquake was located off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It created a tsunami of tremendous force and scope, inflicting massive suffering and loss of life.

Misrule in Myanmar

Myanmar (formerly Burma)

Constant civil war since independence from British Commonwealth in 1948

Since 1999, the government has been reaching cease-fire agreements with most of the country’s ethnic groups

One of the world’s most repressive places to live

Destruction by category 4 cyclone in 2008

Misrule in Myanmar (cont’d.)

Nobel Peace Prize

Aung San Suu Kyi

Political exile

Recent favorable changes in government

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Still much unrest

Sex, Drugs, and Health in Southeast Asia

Opium and heroin

Golden Triangle

Absence of strong government presence, and ideal growing conditions led to explosive growth in drug production

AIDS epidemic among heroin users spread to sex industry

Thailand – 1.1% HIV infection rate among adults in 2014

Vietnam Then and Now

France invaded Vietnam in 1858

Japanese entered 1941, led to five decades of warfare in the area

World War II

Ho Chi Minh – creation of Laos, Cambodia, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam

Vietnam Then and Now (cont’d.)

Vietnam War

North Vietnam allied with Communist China, then Soviet Union

Viet Cong increasingly successful in its bid to reunify the country

U.S. intervened, sending 500,000 troops to South Vietnam by 1965

More than 3 million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians, and about 58,000 U.S. soldiers and staff perished in the Vietnam War; there are still 1,948 Americans listed as MIA

1973 American forces withdrawn

Vietnam

Figure 7.53 The French colonized Indochina in stages in the latter half of the 19th century, consolidating their hold on the area by 1907. Four independent countries emerged after France withdrew from the area in 1954.

Indonesia

One country, one people, one language, 300 different ethnic groups

Malay is official language, but 200+ languages/dialects in use

Largest ethnic group is Javanese, making up 40% of the population

Various groups in outer islands have resented Javanese dominance

Indonesian government shifted to using an iron fist against any province aspiring to follow East Timor

Indonesia (cont’d.)

Province of Aceh

Located at northernmost tip of Sumatra

Predominantly Muslim people of Malayan ethnicity, began seeking independence from Indonesia in 1976

Aceh was allowed to adopt Islamic sharia law, and granted other freedoms

Progress in Aceh leads to hopes for a similar future in Papua

Home to 3 million people of 200 different tribes speaking 100 different languages

China: Han Colonization of China’s Wild West

China’s growth as a land empire

Subjugation of people who are not ethnic Han; colonization by ethnic Han

At least 56 non-Han ethnic groups in China

Autonomous regions

Western Big Development Project

Objective to improve locals’ livelihoods to diminish desire for separatism

Tibet has long struggled for independence

The Dalai Lama

China: The Three Gorges Dam

Yangtze River

Delivers water and fertile soils

Flooding in August 1998 affected 300 million people

Sun Yat-Sen proposed a giant dam on the river back in 1919

Advantages: flood control, drought relief, hydroelectricity production

Three Gorges (Sanzxia) Dam begun in 1994 and completed in 2009

China: The Three Gorges Dam (cont’d.)

Largest dam ever built

Greatly improved shipping

World’s largest hydropower plant

Negative consequences:

The reservoir inundated 4,000 villages, 140 towns, 13 cities, numerous archeological sites, and nearly 160 sq miles of farmland

Shifting of weight of great quantities of water may have seismic consequences

Growing scientific evidence that devastating magnitude 8.0 earthquake of May 12, 2008 may have been triggered by the weight of the reservoir

The South-North Water Transfer Project

One of the world’s lowest per capita water supplies; most uneven distributions of water

Water transfer on a massive scale

Merging basins of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River

Chinese leaders view project with trepidation

Relocation of large groups of people might create social unrest

Uncertainty over what negative impacts this project could have on the environment

What’s Next for Industrial China?

China’s economic weaknesses:

There is little freedom of expression

Fear of collapse of an economic bubble, similar to what was seen in the U.S.

Air and waters are severely polluted,

China is the world’s largest producer of carbon dioxide

Addressing Inequities in China

Economic growth not distributed evenly

Special economic zones (SEZs)

Designed to attract foreign investment and development

Migration to urban centers

Hukou

Legal residents and nonresidents

State-monitored capitalism

Pushing for urbanization

Taiwan and the Two Chinas Problem

Island separated from South China by the 100-mile wide Taiwan Strait

Republic of China vs. People’s Republic of China

One China Policy

U.S. backed the Nationalist claim until 1970s

U.S. supported the revocation of Taiwan’s UN seat in 1971

In 1979, the U.S. withdrew official recognition of Taiwan, recognizing China’s claim of sovereignty

Japan’s Postwar and Its Costs

Economic superpower after defeat in World War II

Reasons:

Never colonized by Western powers

Intense spirit of achievement and enterprise

Resource-poor island nation fostered an attitude of working hard to overcome constraints placed on them by nature

Strong educational system emphasizes technical training

After peaking in the mid-1980s, Japan’s bubble economy burst

Japan’s Postwar and Its Costs (cont’d.)

Japan’s population

Very homogeneous, with 99.5% ethnic Japanese

Low birth rates, at 8 per 1,000 annually

Japan’s shrinking population will cause an increase in taxes and family obligations to meet the needs of older citizens

Karoshi – death by overwork

Women still struggling for equality

North and South Korea

Located between large and powerful neighbors

China, Russia, and Japan have frequently been at odds with one another and the Koreans throughout history

After WWII Soviet Union entered Pacific war as an ally of the U.S. against Japan

Both sides drew up plans to accept Japan’s surrender on the Korean peninsula

Arbitrary line at 38th parallel

Became unintended permanent boundary

North and South Korea (cont’d.)

Fear of communist expansion

Korean War (1950-1953)

Armistice was signed July 27, 1953, by the Chinese, the North Koreans, and the United Nations command (achieved cease fire)

Border between Koreas, called the demilitarized zone (DMZ), follows armistice line

Great Leader Kim Il Sung and successors

Famine in North Korea beginning in 1995

Strict socialism and defense

North and South Korea (cont’d.)

South Korea focused on economic expansion

Chaebols

World’s 13th largest economy

Reunification?

Worry about war