East & SE Asia: Physical & Political Geography Picture on the left hand side is the great wall! Kind of blurry…

Population/Culture

China as % of World Population What is the largest? Smallest?

Population China: 51% rural Japan 25% rural 14A, 7A Each Chinese village has an average of 916 people. A typical village farmer grow rice, corn, chilies and vegetables on a half acre of land, and maybe keeps some chickens and pigs. Farmers produce enough to eat but not much to sell. There are inadequate basic public services such as education, health and applications of new technologies. Typical rural families live in simple wooden houses, use outhouses and cook in shacks over open hearths. Many villagers now have televisions and even washing machines, refrigerators and DVD players, but many villages only have electricity during the night as rural industries need the power during the day. Land-line phones are still rare. Cell phones are becoming more common. In villages outside Shanghai you can find people with stylish haircuts and expensive suits that live in houses with coal grills and plastic tables.

Population Density

Spread of Religions to Asia Indonesia: Muslim Person must carry a religion ID card. Largest Islamic nation, spread from India during the 11th century Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Burma: Buddhist Philippines: Christian (Portuguese Explorers) China: Buddhist Pagodas: tiered tower with multiple eaves. Usually Buddhist/religious function. WG 1A, 5B, 17A, 16A Top Photos: one tiered pagoda Vietnam Middle: Japan Pagoda Bottom: Chinese Pagoda Indonesia: Atheism not allowed for Indonesian citizens Indonesia only recognizes 6 religions: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism Bali is a large Hindu island. Some conflict between the people of Bali & the rest of Indonesia. Ferdinand Magellan Portugese Explorer Philippines easily converted to Christianity b/c of a lack of centralized power (India & Africa taken over by Europeans for similar reasons) Pagodas are monuments, very little useable space. Buddhist.

China & Isolation 中華人民共和國 Ancient Chinese: saw themselves as the center of the world, self sufficient & technologically advanced. Foreigners inferior & did not pursue links with the outside world. Censorship of political speech & information: routinely used to silence criticism of government & the Chinese Communist Party. Civil rights violations common China limited western influences. Banning, threatening to ban TV shows that are deemed inappropriate KFC has a menu in China that is almost completely Chinese, very few “western” items. Has threatened to ban the tv show ”The Bachelor” as too explicit.

Government & Economics

Economics ASEAN: developed 1967 Goals: peace & stability, economy, right to be free from external interference Asian/Economic Tigers : have experienced major economic growth (S. Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore) Jakota Triangle (Japan, S Korea, Taiwan) high pop. density, urbanization, rapid growth in manufacturing, problems traced back to WWII SEZ: Special Economic Zones (Southern coast of China) areas w/o taxes & regulations to attract foreign businesses. 16A, 16B, 10A, 10D Top: Yellow/blue photo: ASEAN member countries Bottom: Jakota triangle countries * Jakota triangle countries have experienced rapid growth in spite of their dependence on importing raw materials. US # 1 largest economy…yes. Still! ASEAN = Association of Southeastern Asian Nations (think NAFTA, EU) SEZ: Hong Kong, Macau are two examples. Highly developed, etc.

Economics Vietnam & Laos: Communist moving toward market economy, poor, agricultural. Improved relations between Vietnam & US. Japan: Wealthy, imports raw materials (size) and paid for these with exports. Thailand: economy improving, trade improving China: 2nd largest economy, Coastal regions most industrialized. Trade surplus with US, US placed protective tariffs in the early 2000’s . Jaan has to import raw materials because of its small size. Only in the last 50 years have they seen a profit. Prior to this they spent more on importing raw materials than they were making. Chinas economy has declined in last 3 yrs: global recession. Still 2nd largest economy in the world behind the US!

Autocratic Dictatorship COUNTRY GOVERNMENT ECONOMY China Communist Command North Korea Autocratic Dictatorship South Korea Republic Free Market Myanmar (Burma) Parliamentary Republic Socialist Japan Constitutional Monarchy 14A, 14B CHINA: The gov’t has ownership of a large % of the Chinese economy, while at the same participating within a market economy. 1978 = 1% of businesses were privately owned, today = 70% pvt owned Myanmar: since the military took over, minorities have been victims of human rights violations, human trafficking, reforms in the last year (2011) The US & Europe have eased some sanctions in light of their new quasi-military leader and move to a parliamentary republic in 2011. Will have to wait & see if it actually gets better here and if the US will finally recognize their name change to Myanmar from Burma. China moving towards private ownership of some businesses (factories) Japan has an emperor, prime minister and a “Diet” similar to a parliament. Burma occupied by Japan in WWII, liberated by allies & became independent on Jan. 4, 1948. 1962, left-wing general Ne Win staged a coup, banned political opposition, suspended the constitution, and introduced the “Burmese way of socialism.” After 25 years of economic hardship and repression, the Burmese people held massive demonstrations in 1987 and 1988. These were brutally quashed by the State Law and Order Council (SLORC). In 1989, the military government officially changed the name of the country to Myanmar. (The U.S. State Department does not recognize the name Myanmar or the military regime that represents it.)

Physical Geography

Arable land in China Ask student to guess where most of the population lives in China. A: Coastal regions - arable land! (They remember from the previous slides)

Pacific “Ring of Fire”

Indochina Indochina: region between India & China…many volcanoes, earthquakes. Maritime SE Asia WG 9A Indochina: Cambodia, Laos, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Vietnam and Peninsular Malaysia Maritime Southeast Asia/Malay Archipelago: Brunei, East Malaysia, East Timor, Indonesia, Philippines, Christmas Island, and Singapore

Three Gorges Dam To control dangerous flooding on Chang River, control river traffic, hydroelectric power. 1-2 million people displaced, ecosystems destroyed due flooding of reservoir. 13A

Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge – Japan longest suspension bridge in the world

Pollution Concerns in China Impact of technology /industrialization in agriculture: Pro: More food produced Con: severe pollution 1979 China passed EPA (Environmental Protection Law) Not enforced Water Pollution is one of the most serious threats facing China: approx 300 million Chinese are drinking unsafe water. 19C, 13A

The Polluted Yellow River!

Special Focus Regions

Tibet & The Dalai Lama (14th) Tibet: Himalayan plateau DL’s ruled Tibet 1640s - 1950s. 13th DL proclaimed independence : 913. China did not accept independence. (subordinate) DL (14th) exiled, living in India. Tibetans: human rights violations by Chinese. WG 13A Why red/orange robes? Because this is the color of fall, and it indicates “impermanence” everything changes and goes through cycles. Dalai Lama is in exile because of 1959 Tibetan uprising (seen merely as a feudal uprising by China), fearing his life. CIA helped him flee. Won the Nobel peace prize in 1989. Tibetan Buddhism has influence from Hindu (proximity to India). Chinese Buddhism is a difference branch of Buddhism, called “zen Buddhism” Each DL is thought to be a reincarnation of a previous dalai lama. Chosen (or recognized as being the reincarnation based on certain virtues exhibited) as a child and kept safe until it is his time to become the next DL. Some debate between the Chinese and the Tibetans about who will select the next (15th) DL. It is thought that one has already been selected by the Chinese gov’t and has been in seclusion with his family since 1995.

North & South Korea Kim Jong iL: Supreme leader, communist, harsh, kept Korea isolated. Kim Jong Un: son, supreme leader at his fathers death in December 2011 Attempted to launch a rocket last week, failed…burst apart after liftoff. Goal was to demonstrate their power. 5B North Korea's recent failed rocket launch shows that the communist country has made little progress in its spaceflight program, the head of the U.S. missile defense program said Wednesday. Bicycles forbidden, gives people too much independence. North Korean government said the rocket (failed launch 4/13/12) carried an Earth observation satellite, though other countries said it was a cover for testing long-range missile technology. After North Korea's rocket launch ended in failure, its next move could be even more provocative: a nuclear test. That's what North Korea did following launches in 2006 and 2009. Experts suspect the government is under even more pressure to do so now after its latest rocket burst apart after liftoff Friday. "This failure makes it even more likely that the North will now attempt a nuclear test in the not-too-distant future," American analyst Ralph Cossa, the president of Pacific Forum CSIS, said. "The rocket launch was supposed to demonstrate the regime's power and technical prowess. A nuclear test may now be seen as even more necessary, not just to further perfect their weapons capability, but also to save face."

Taiwan Chiang Kai-shek, moved gov’t to Taiwan (Chinese territory). Claim: Taiwan is separate from China. Conflict between these two groups (PRC & ROC) still exists today. WG 1A Flag: Left Flag of the Koumintang party. Flag Right: proposed New official flag of Taiwan (“Hearts United”) Both governments claim to be the legitimate government of China (Mainland, Taiwan, & all islands) Taiwan is relatively autonomous ONLY b/c China allows it. Republic of China (ROC) = Koumintang Party (Taiwan) Peoples Republic of China (PRC) = Communist party (Mainland China)

Hong Kong & Macao “One Country Two Systems” Hong Kong & Macao : “Special Administrative Region” of China Autonomous HONG KONG: UK territory from 1842-1997. Cosmopolitan & Highly Developed. One of most densely pop regions in world. MACAO: Former Portuguese territory Returned to China: 1999 WG 1A 7 million people live here, one of the most densely populated areas in the world…428 sq mi of land Along with Macau, Hong Kong is one of the two SAR’s under the “ one country, two systems” policy. Has its own currency, language, legal & political systems, and a high degree of autonomy in all areas except foreign affairs & defense. The HK people feel as though they are very different from the rest of China, never refer to them as “Chinese”  HK mostly speak Cantonese, most of China speaks Mandarin. low crime rate, very expensive to live here (think Manhattan!) The low building facing the harbor in the top photo is of the opera house. Top 2 Photos: Hong Kong. Photos show the smog. One is the harbor view (enormous!!!) the other is the city view. Taken on two of my trips to HK/China. Bottom photo: Macao (NOT my photo, found online!) Macao Econonmy: dependent on gambling tourism. Belong to Portugal from the 16th century until 1999