Pacific Asia

Not to be confused with Asia–Pacific.

An image of the very similar Far East.

Pacific Asia is the region of Asia bordering the Pacific Ocean. It constitutes East Asia, Northeast Asia, and Southeast Asia.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The region is contested by China, America, and Japan, with India recently engaging as well as part of its Act East policy and overall rise on the world stage.^[6][7][8]

History

See also: Nanyang (region)

In ancient times, the central country in much of the region was China, with the Chinese diaspora creating economic integration throughout.^[9] European colonization of Southeast Asia in the modern era led to a splintering of the region into rival blocs, with China itself having some of its territory split up between the colonial powers. The Japanese Empire also played a role in conquering parts of Pacific Asia. The Chinese artisans found themselves losing out to Western mass production, with China becoming an insignificant economic player in Pacific Asia. America expanded westward through the Pacific in a kind of extended "Manifest Destiny",^[10] conquering regions such as Guam and the Philippines and dispelling the Spanish Empire from the region.^[11] In the aftermath of World War 2, America participated heavily throughout Pacific Asia, tolerating the authoritarianism that characterized the regimes in the region due to its need for anti-communist allies to prosecute the Cold War in Asia,^[12][13] and later for the War on Terror.^[14]

21st century

See also: The Pacific Century

The Korean Demilitarized Zone separating North Korea and South Korea since 1953.

Deng Xiaoping's reforms in late-20th-century China led to the country becoming more economically important, re-assuming a central role in Pacific Asia by the 2007–2008 financial crisis.^[15] In the 21st century, Pacific Asia has become an economically interconnected region, trading more within itself than the EU or America, having significant intermigration throughout the region,^[16] and having significant solidarity in its votes and stances at the UN.^[17] Tensions have emerged between Pacific Asian countries around the South China Sea (such as regarding Taiwan) and regarding the Korean conflict,^[18] with Japan having somewhat of a leadership role in the region but also being rejected at times due to other Pacific Asian countries' reaction to colonial-era Japanese war crimes,^[19] with America being asked to maintain influence in the region as a counterweight to Japan.^[20]

See also

• East Asia Economic Caucus
• Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, historical region
• Indo-Pacific Asia
• East Asian influence on Northeast India
• Global Southeast, which intersects with Pacific Asia in Southeast Asia
• Pacific Rim, the entire region of the world surrounding the Pacific

References

1. Borthwick, Mark (2018-04-20). Pacific Century: The Emergence of Modern Pacific Asia. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-97452-6.
2. Drakakis-Smith, David W. (2002-01-31). Pacific Asia. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-91354-1.
3. Huang, Xiaoming; Young, Jason (2017-09-16). Politics in Pacific Asia: An Introduction. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-137-46650-1.
4. Gietel-Basten, Stuart (2019-06-07). The "Population Problem" in Pacific Asia. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-936108-3.
5. McCargo, Duncan (2003). Media and Politics in Pacific Asia. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-23374-3.
6. Scott, David (April 2007). "Strategic Imperatives of India as an Emerging Player in Pacific Asia". International Studies. 44 (2): 123–140. doi:10.1177/002088170704400203. ISSN 0020-8817.
7. Scott, David (2008-02-15). "The Great Power 'Great Game' between India and China: 'The Logic of Geography'". Geopolitics. 13 (1): 1–26. doi:10.1080/14650040701783243. ISSN 1465-0045.
8. Is India an East Asian Power? Explaining New Delhi’s Security Politics in the Western Pacific C. Raja Mohan
9. "Atlantic and Pacific integration — A comparative study of postwar Western Europe and East Asia". ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
10. Clark, Dan E. (1932). "Manifest Destiny and the Pacific". Pacific Historical Review. 1 (1): 1–17. doi:10.2307/3633743. ISSN 0030-8684.
11. Adams, Paul Vauthier (2017). "Toward a World History of Small Countries: The Philippines as a Global Connector". World History Connected. 14 (3). doi:10.13021/whc.v14i3.3832. ISSN 1931-8642.
12. Parsons, James Graham (1960). The American Role in Pacific-Asian Affairs. Committee of One Million (Against the Admission of Communist China to the United Nations).
13. The changing nature of democracy (PDF).
14. Thompson, Mark R (September 2004). "Pacific Asia after 'Asian values': authoritarianism, democracy, and 'good governance'". Third World Quarterly. 25 (6): 1079–1095. doi:10.1080/0143659042000256904. ISSN 0143-6597.
15. Womack, Brantly, ed. (2023), "Sharp Connectivity: Western Modernization and De-centered Pacific Asia", Recentering Pacific Asia: Regional China and World Order, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 77–106, ISBN 978-1-009-39386-7, retrieved 2024-05-04
16. Dixon, Chris; Smith, David W. (2002-09-26). Economic and Social Development in Pacific Asia. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-93405-8.
17. Ferdinand, Peter (November 2014). "Foreign Policy Convergence in Pacific Asia: The Evidence from Voting in the UN General Assembly". The British Journal of Politics and International Relations. 16 (4): 662–679. doi:10.1111/1467-856X.12019. ISSN 1369-1481.
18. "The Indo-Pacific versus Pacific Asia". China-US Focus. 2023-12-14. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
19. "Insertion of the Pacific Asian Countries into International Trade: Key Features". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
20. Doner, Richard F. (2007-12-01), "5. Japanese Foreign Investment and the Creation of a Pacific Asian Region", 5. Japanese Foreign Investment and the Creation of a Pacific Asian Region, University of Chicago Press, pp. 159–216, doi:10.7208/9780226260242-007/html, ISBN 978-0-226-26024-2, retrieved 2024-05-05