Geopolitics of East Asia

● Geopolitics studies the relationships between political power and geographic space. Power
and territory are two central concepts in geopolitics and are closely related.
In recent decades East Asia has become a major economic power in the world. It is said that
the center of gravity of world activity has shifted from the Atlantic Ocean (between Europe and
America) to the Pacific (around Asia and America). And this is a very important geopolitical
change.
On the other hand, contrast (in physical, economic and demographic terms) between
countries is one of the main characteristics of the region. It is not a homogeneous space.

● China geographically is like an island despite the fact that the country is not surrounded by
water except on its Eastern edge. It is because the boundaries of China by the South, the
West and the North are constituted by very high mountains, such as the Himalayas, or huge
deserts such as the Gobi or the Takla Makan, which are real barriers and obstacles for human
activity.
● Internally, China can be divided into two parts: 1. The heart of the country, located in the
East where most of the population and economic activities are concentrated. This is the China
of Han people. and 2. the big and empty peripheries of the North, the West and the South,
which mainly consist of high mountains and huge deserts. Although these are arid and very
low populated areas, they have had an important geopolitical role along centuries. It was
through some of these arid areas that the ancient Silk Road passed. This was the trade route
that connected the heart of China with the territories of Central and West Asia.

● Tibet is one large plateau (2.5 million km2 or 5 times the Iberian Peninsula), more than 2000
km long from east to west and 1500 km wide from N to S, surrounded by the great mountains
of the Himalayas. This immense space has an average altitude above 4,000 meters and is
populated only by about 7 million people. It is very arid, very cold and very windy and therefore
little appropriate for human occupation. Considering only the last century, until 1911, Tibet
remained under Chinese sovereignty, but that year and as a result of China's instability,
Buddhist monasteries declared themselves independent.
In 1949, with the triumph of the People's Republic, the Chinese re-occupied Tibet.
Since then, the leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama left Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and lives in exile
in northern India.
In 1959 there was a Tibetan revolt but it was severely repressed. After that, the Chinese
initiated a demographic policy consisting of settlement of the Han ethnic group in the region,
which is already a majority, at least in the cities.

● Xinjiang is one of the great peripheral space of great geopolitical importance for China. It
occupies an area of 1.6 million km2 and is the land of the Uyghur people, which are Muslims
of Turkish origin.
In recent years there have been violent clashes between Uighurs and Chinese in cities such as
Urumqi, with the result of dozens of deaths. In fact, in recent years the Chinese government is
undertaking a very severe policy of containing Uyghurs desires for independence. It is said that
as many as one million uyghurs may be locked in concentration and reeducation camps.
● Hong Kong: This small territory of the southern coast of China is currently the third largest
financial place in the world and has almost 7 million inhabitants. A former British colony, in
1997 it became part of China. In fact, in 1997 the phrase "one country: two systems" became
famous recognizing to some extent the autonomy of the old colony. However, Beijing refuses
to establish a fully democratic system and clashes with social movements that would like a
democratic status for the former colony.

● Taiwan: The ancient island of Formosa was not populated by the Chinese until the 17th
century. In 1895 it was occupied by Japan and in 1945 it was returned to China. In 1949 it
became the refuge of the nationalist forces that had lost the war in mainland China. Politically,
economically and above all, and militarily Taiwan is supported by the USA, which has
stimulated economic growth. In theory, there is a high degree of conflict with China, but deep
down, the two "Chinas “maintain strong commercial and human relationships as many
Taiwanese have family in mainland China and vice-versa.
Anyway, China includes Taiwan in its national maps. On the other hand, although Taiwan is a
“de facto” independent country, legally, its independence has never been recognized by
international institutions (United Nations) due to pressure from the Chinese government.
The threat of a Chinese invasion of the island exists, but so far it has been impossible due to
U.S. protection. In any case, this is one of the main hotspots on the planet in geopolitical
terms.

● China borders Russia and several of the former Soviet republics such as Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The most problematic border in China is India, where there is a
conflict over the delimitation of the border that involves military intervention in the area.

● The most important geopolitical project China is promoting around the world is the so-called
Belt and Road (or the new silk road).
China’s need for oil and other energy and mineral sources to face the growing demand of
Chinese industry is behind of this development initiative.
This initiative aims to connect China with the rest of Asia, Europe and Africa through a network
of highways, high-speed trains, lines power, pipelines, ports, etc.. to stimulate economic
growth that would benefit all countries.
The belt and road project includes two main components: a land route, with several branches
but broadly following the traditional silk route, and a sea route.
All this is accompanied by heavy investment in infrastructures. The Chinese government says
more than 100 countries around the world will participate in this initiative, which could confirm
China’s hegemonic position during this century.

● Japan is a very old state that has two basic geographic peculiarities. First, it is an archipelago,
a group of islands, four of which are large, that was historically unified very soon. Therefore,
the ethnic, social and territorial fragmentation did not take place in contrast to other nearby
archipelagos like the Philippines and Indonesia. Second. Japan forms a great cultural unit,
perhaps one of the most powerful and consolidated cultural units in the world.
 Since the so-called Meiji Era (1868), Japan became an industrialized country and initiated a
policy of imperialist expansion through Asia, occupying Formosa, present-day Taiwan (1895),
Korea (1910), Manchuria (1930) and many other Pacific islands. This expansionist period
ended with the end of World War II.
Like Taiwan, Japan has also been supported in military terms by the United States since the
end of World War II after the nuclear attack on its population (bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki) and the consequent surrender of the country.
Currently, Japan's geopolitical problems are relatively small compared to what they were a
century ago but they are not insignificant.
a. Japan continues to claim the southernmost part of the Kuril Islands that were
annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945.
b. Japan also maintains a dispute with China and Taiwan for the Senkaku islands in
the East China Sea

c. And very important because this is a matter of great concern to the country: Japan
is under the radius of action of North Korean nuclear missiles.

● Korea is a peninsula that extends south from the main part of the Asian continent for about
1,100 km. It is surrounded by water on three sides.
Korea was occupied by Japan in 1905 after the war with Russia and would not abandon it
until the defeat of 1945. This explains why the current diplomatic relationship between Japan
and Korea is really complicated.
The agreements of Yalta (1945) between the countries that had won the Second World War
established the division of the peninsula in two halves separated by Parallel 38, the North
Communist and South Pro-American.
Between 1950 and 1953, Korean war caused almost three million deaths and devastated the
country and divided the country in two. This war is considered one of the first clashes within
the Cold War between the US and the USSR.
Over the decades, South Korea has become a developed country, military supported by the
US.
Meanwhile, North Korea is an authoritarian communist country, with almost no foreign
relations. This is probably the most opaque country in the world. There is no reliable
information on what is happening inside the country in social and political terms.
North Korea is a rather poor country, but that it has enough nuclear potential to generate
major conflicts with countries in the region and on a global scale. The Korean peninsula is now
one of the major conflict points of the planet.

● The United States, a country with no territorial presence in the region, has been the
hegemonic power, at least in military terms, over the region since 1945.
Since the end of World War II, the United States has been protecting Taiwan, Japan, and
South Korea, its allies in the region, thanks to a strong military presence (especially in Japan
and South Korea). Therefore, the US is a major actor in the region.
On the other hand, due to the emergence of China as a major economic and military power,
experts speak of a new cold war between these two countries (and not between Russia and
the US).
 ● Recent geopolitical conflicts: The case of the South China Sea
There are three major masses of water in East Asia: the Sea of Japan (between Japan, North
Korea, South Korea, and Russia); The East China Sea (between China and the Japanese
islands of Ryukyu) and the South China Sea (between Borneo, China, the Philippines and
Vietnam).
These seas are the scene of hundreds of territorial disputes affecting islands, atolls, etc. But in
recent years there has been an increase in political and military tension in these spaces. The
possibility of an armed conflict has also increased.
First of all, it is necessary to remember the strategic importance of this maritime space
because through the South China Sea circulates a third of the maritime traffic in the world. On
one direction, we have energy and raw materials for China and in the other direction,
especially Chinese manufactured exports.
There are thousands of small islands and atolls no bigger than the UAB campus without much
interest, but in the area there are fishing banks and probably oil and natural gas deposits.
Basically, for these reasons, all the countries in this area, with China ahead, are claiming
exclusive economic sovereignty over areas of the South China Sea.
The case of the South China Sea opposes China on one side and several countries of the
region on the other.
China has claimed practically all the South China Sea with the argument that has occupied the
Spratly and Paracels archipelagos in the northern and southern parts of this sea.
The Paracels are under Chinese control since 1974, when they expelled the Vietnamese. In
contrast, the Spratly, is claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and
Brunei, and are not completely occupied.
The rest of the countries in the sea are against this appropriation and have their own territorial
claims. During the last years, the Chinese have been building artificial islands on submerged
reefs and also constructing aviation tracks.

Physical Environment. Part One.

NATURAL DISASTERS

● An essential feature of East Asia is the great importance of extreme catastrophic events
-natural disasters- such as earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones or typhoons, droughts and floods.
● Natural disasters are perhaps more present in this area than in other continents. These
catastrophic events have been a constant in the history of these countries and have influenced
in some way their culture and their social and economic activities.
● In the Earth there are seven large tectonic plates and many others of smaller dimensions. Four
of the seven large plates are in contact in East Asia: Indo-Australian; Euro-Asiatic; Pacific and
Philippines.
● East Asia is probably the most active seismic zone on the planet, known as the Pacific Fire
Ring. It is estimated that 80% of the largest earthquakes occur in this area and about 75% of
active volcanoes are concentrated in this region.
● The Thangshan earthquake is considered the worst of modern China in terms of human lives.
It caused hundreds of thosands dead. This catastrophe had some influence on the change in
 Chinese policy in 1976, as it evidenced the need to modernize cities and infrastructure in the
country. 1976 represents for chinese policy the end of the ortodox comunism, led bu Mao
Zedong, and the begining of a more open economy promoted by Deng Xaoping.
● The 2011 triple accident in Japan -earthquake, tsunami and nuclear explosion-, caused
21,000 deaths or missing people, in one of the most developed countries in the world and,
without any doubt, the country most prepared for natural disasters. The consequences of the
Fukushima episode are not over because there is currently a lot of polluted water that has to
be dumped into the sea.

CHINA
● A very characteristic feature of the Chinese relief is that the average height of the territory
decreases from the North and West to the South and East.
● Mainland China can be divided into three large physiographical units: the southern and
western mountainous regions ; the northern deserts and the hills and river plains of the east
and south.

The southern and western mountainous regions:

● First we find the Southwest mountain ranges locate between China and countries such as
Laos or Myanmar. Mountains are not very high but they are quite abrupt and are difficult to
cross.
● The Himalayas are the natural border between Tibet, India, Nepal and Bhutan.

For millions of years, India was an island until it collided with the rest of the continent. As a
result of this collision, the Himalayas and Tibet rose.

The northern slope of the highest mountain in the world, the Everest, belongs to China.

● Tibet. It is a huge territory that covers 2.5 million km2 and represents almost 25% of the
surface of China. Tibet it’s a plateau (a relatively plain surface that is elevated above the
surrounding territory) with 4000 meters altitude average.

The landscape of Tibet is constituted by a set of parallel mountain ranges separated by valleys
and lacustrine depressions with rivers that lead to salt lakes.

The Himalayas act as an orographic screen that prevents the arrival of rain in Tibet. The
regions west of the Himalayas have more rainfall from Indian ocean.

The northern deserts.

● The second region is called the area of great deserts, but in this very large territory there are
also important mountain ranges.
● The main mountainous area is located to the west. Tian Shan is one of the highest mountain
ranges on the planet. It extends for 2,500 km from west (border between China and Central
Asia) to east (Xinjiang) with peaks that exceeds 7.000 meters.
● Another large mountain range called Altai is located in the northwest, on the border between
China, Mongolia and Russia. This area is not as high as Tian Shan, although it reaches a
maximum altitude of 4,500 meters.
● Around these mountain ranges and extending to the east there are great depressions and
basins: Turfan depression, Tarim basin, Dzungarian basin, ..
 ● Like the Himalayas in relation to Tibet, the Tian Shan and Altai mountains also create
“orographic screens,” so very little rain occurs in these lowlands.
● These areas are occupied by large deserts, such as the Takla Makan desert, which is a huge
sandy area of​​250,000 km2. The southern boundary of the Mongolian plateau is occupied by
the Gobi desert, a rocky desert of about half a million km2, not as dry as Takla Makan.

The hills and river plains of the east and south.

● The third region (East and South of China) has a much lower and more undulating relief, with 4
large units:
● Manchuria: Mountain ranges of the periphery and lowlands in the center with abundant
presence of sedimentary materials that give good agricultural soils but cold and long winters.
● The Loess plateau and the North China Plain : The most significant feature of relief in this
area is loess. This name has a German origin and is used to describe a sedimentary material
formed by fine clays transported and deposited by the wind over thousands of years (in this
case, mainly from the Gobi desert). Loess is very suitable for to the agriculture but also very
fragile and be eroded easily by wind.
● Loess has formed a plateau of more than 640,000 km2 in middle Huang He course, with
deposits that can sometimes be hundreds of meters thick.
● To the east, the North China Plain covers an area of about 410,000 km2, most of which are
less than 50 meters above sea level. The plain is one of the most important agricultural regions
in China and the most populated area of the country.
● The Qinling Mountains and the Yangtze Basin: The Qinling mountains (up to 3000 meters)
separate the North China Plain from the Yangtze basin, the most important river in China and
one of the most important rivers of the world. In its middle section, the river has to open its
way through various mountain ranges. Further East, it shapes a territory with low plains and
low mountains before arriving in the sea forming a very large delta.
● The river plains of the east and south. This area has a markedly tropical character. It is also
quite mountainous, but with a coastal plain that has allowed the development of large cities
(Hong kong). Limestone rocks, higher temperatures and humidity generate very intense
erosion resulting in the so-called karstic regions of southern China with sharp peaks and
spectacular caves.

TAIWAN
● The territory under the jurisdiction of the government of the Republic of China includes the
island of Taiwan, the Pescadores Islands archipelago, and the Matsu and Kinmen
archipelagos, in front of the coast of mainland China.
● The island of Taiwan is crossed from North to South by a mountain range of up to almost
4,000 meters that creates a marked contrast between the western side, with more space for
human settlements and an oriental side where the mountains fall directly to the sea.

JAPAN
● Japan is an archipelago consisting of four main islands and thousands of smaller islands. The
four main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu (the largest and the one that concentrates most of the
population); Shikoku and Kiushu. And it’s also worth mentioning the RyuKyu Islands that
extend to the south (Okinawa).
 ● Most Japanese mountain systems were formed as a result of the clash between the Asian and
Pacific lithospheric plates. High tectonic instability is the main driving force of geological
dynamics, and explains the great incidence of seismic phenomena in the country.
● The relief of Japan is also very mountainous and has as a maximum singularity in the presence
of hundreds of volcanic cones, about sixty of which active. The highest of these volcanoes is
the emblematic Mount Fuji, with more than 3700 meters of altitude.
● One of the most defining features of the Japanese relief is the so-called Magna Drift, a tectonic
depression on the island of Honshu, where most recent volcanic eruptions have occurred.
● Another very characteristic feature of the Japanese relief is the Honshu mountain range,
named the Japanese Alps. These are the highest non-volcanic mountains in Japan and are
very old, with peaks of more than 3000 meters.
● The plains are very limited and only represent 15% of the country's surface area. The coastal
plains tend to be larger than the inland plains. The most important plain is Kanto, on the island
of Honshu, where Tokyo and its metropolitan area are located.

KOREAN PENINSULA
● Korea can be understood as a peninsula of the great continental Asian land mass. Its
north-south extension is very similar to that of the Iberian Peninsula, about 1000 km long. On
the other hand, the maximum width does not exceed 300 km.
● It is a very mountainous country, as more than 70% of the territory is made up of hills and
mountains but, on the other hand, it enjoys a much higher tectonic stability than that of North
China, Taiwan and Japan.
● The Korean peninsula relief is dominated by a long mountain range, which runs from south to
north. The highest peak is a volcano now not active called Mont Baekdu.
● The low plains (approximately 30% of the surface) tend to be situated towards the Yellow Sea
on the west coast. Some of these plains are occupied by rivers, such as Han in Seoul.
● The west coast of Korea is very irregular and is dominated by a large number of islands, islets
and bays.

Physical Environment. Part Two.

● Typhoons are storms generated over the sea in tropical or subtropical areas, usually between
5 and 20 degrees latitude. The season of typhoons starts towards the end of the summer
when the sea is very hot. These storms usually generate very strong winds, torrential rains,
rising sea levels and also tornadoes.

● The intensity of tropical storms is measured according to wind speed in a scale called
Saffir-Simpson. East Asia is the area of the world that suffers the most severe episodes of
storms in terms of intensity.

● The most virulent tropical storm recorded in the region in the last decades was the typhoon
called Morakot in the summer of 2009. This tropical storm caused the worst floods suffered in
Taiwan for the past 50 years, with more than 700 dead and missing and huge economic
losses. The storm dropped almost 3000 mm of rainfall in Taiwan in about four days.
 These heavy rains, especially in the south of the island, caused land movements(landslides).
One of these landslides buried the city of Xiaoling and 500 of its inhabitants.

● The climate of Asia is very complex and very varied and this is mainly explained by the
geographical features of the region and the global atmospheric circulation.

● There are 3 main factors which affect climate.

● Latitude
Temperatures decrease as you move away from the equator. This is because the sun rays are
dispersed over a larger area of land as you move away from the equator. This is due to the
curved surface of the Earth. The same amount of energy must heat more land Surface.

● Altitude
Temperatures decrease with height. The air is less dense and cannot hold heat as easily. The
temperature usually decreases by 1°C for every 100 metres in altitude.
Therefore, we find great temperature contrasts between mountains and plains.

● Distance from the sea (continentality)

Land heats and cools faster than the sea. On the coast winters are mild, and summers are
cool. Coastal areas tend to have a more moderate climate due to the influence of the sea.
In inland areas, temperatures are high in the summer and cold in the winter.
We call Thermal amplitude to the temperature difference from winter to summer and from day
to night.

● Various elements make up the climate of a region, but the following are the most common:

● Temperature.
The temperature is characterized by its variation during a day due to Earth’s rotation and
during the annual seasons due to the translational motion of the Earth around the sun.
This is called: thermal amplitude.

● Precipitation.
Precipitation is measured in millimeters of water, or liters fallen per unit area (m²), that is, the
height of the sheet of water collected on a flat surface is measured in mm or l / m². Note that 1
millimeter of rainwater is equal to 1 L of water per m².

● East Asia is located around the Tropic of Cancer (30ºN) and extends north without reaching
the Arctic Circle. The latitude of the northernmost part of China is about 53ºN and the
southernmost point is about 20ºN.

● In these latitudes, the wind circulation is called "Jet Stream". In East Asia, temperatures and
especially precipitation are very conditioned by the situation of the "Jet Stream", which
circulates more towards the South in winter and or more towards the North in summer.
● During the winter, and because the Jet Stream circulates more towards the south, the
so-called Siberian Anticyclone extends its influence over most of East Asia. The predominant
weather is very cold and generally dry. The effects of this powerful anticyclone are manifested
in very low temperatures in winter (39ºN: Beijing, -5º C; València: +10ºC ).

● Towards the end of spring and summer, the change of position of "Jet Stream" now located
north of the Himalayas, causes the Siberian anticyclone to be replaced by warm and humid
winds, called Monsoons. This change makes the temperatures rise and brings rains to the
area. The summer Monsoon is responsible for much of the precipitation that occurs on the
eastern part of China, the peninsula of Korea and Japan.

● The precipitations associated with the summer monsoon tend to decrease as we move
North and West, with amounts that range from 3000 mm in some areas of South China,
Japan or Taiwan to 50 mm or less in Western China .

● Climate types are the result of the combination of temperatures and precipitation in a
territory. In East Asia we can identify the following climate types.

● Tropical humid climates : This type of climate is located in SE China, Taiwan, and the
southern and eastern half of Japan and Korea .
In these areas the temperature is high and the contrast between winter and summer is low.
Precipitation, due to the influence of the summer monsoon, is abundant. These areas are also
the more exposed to the typhoons.

● Tropical dry climates: They basically include the Center and the North of China and extend
towards the West.
In this case, the temperature contrasts are very pronounced because of its continentality and
precipitation decreases considerably with respect to the SE of China (less than 400mm per
year).
This area is rarely affected by typhoons but instead is more exposed to droughts and floods.

● Desert Climates: Present in the North West and West of China.

Here the temperature differences between seasons can be the most extreme in the world. In
Mongolia, we can find up to 32° C in summer and -45° C in winter.
The temperature difference between day and night is also very considerable.
Rainfall is very scarce and rarely exceeds 50 mm per year.

● Cold mountain climates: Cold mountain climates are dominant in the great plateau of Tibet
and parts of the Gobi desert.
Temperatures can be very low, and precipitation is also very low due to the orographic screen
effect.
All this is accompanied by very strong winds that, sometimes, form large sandstorms.

● Cold climates with maritime influence: Finally, in Manchuria, North Korea and also in the
northern half of the Japanese archipelago, especially in the island of Hokkaido and the western
 part of the Honshu Island (Japanese Alps), we find a climate that is cold and that registers
precipitation in the form of snow in winter.
This is the result of depressions (storms) that originate in the North Pacific and that carry cold
and humid air towards these areas.

● The hydrographic network presents very important differences between the great Chinese
rivers and the smaller river courses of Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

● All, however, have played a very important role in the development of human societies. The
attraction of the valleys of the three large Chinese rivers (Huang He, Yangtsé and Xi Jiang,
which ends in the Pearl River), is manifested in large areas for agriculture periodically fertilized
with sediment from floods. The valleys of these rivers present a very old human occupation. In
addition, most rivers could be navigable, which greatly facilitated communications.

● The Huang He (Yellow River) is the second largest river in China. In is middle course the
river follows a very sinuous route that first goes north to avoid the desert of Ordos (a plateau of
1000-1600m), then it suddenly turns south and it recovers its path to the East.
The Yellow River has great erosion potential, especially when it crosses the loess territory,
which is a very soft and easily erodible land. When it reaches its low course, crossing the
North China Plain, the Huang He circulates with a lot of sediments so large that these
sediments tend to pile up over the riverbed that has to be contained between dams (levees)
built by peasants. In the case of a river flood, the dams can break and the river flood the
surrounding plain. These floods have generated devastating catastrophes throughout history.

● The Cháng Jiāng, Yangtse. It is the largest river in China and the one with the highest flow
(much more than the Yellow River). In its middle course, the 600 km from Chongqing to
Yichang, the river becomes very narrow and flows through three deep gorges almost
thousand meters high. It is in this section of the river where the dam and reservoir of "The
Three Gorges” has been built. It is the largest hydraulic system in the world, the objective of
which is to increase the production of electricity but also to control floods and provide water
supply for irrigation and cities.
It must be taken into account that the construction of the dam has involved many human
costs (submerged cities and towns and more than one million displaced people) and
environmental (on wildlife, land and agriculture).
The Yangtze is 2,500 km navigable. Wuhan and Nanjing are the main river ports of the Yangtze
basin.

● The Xi Jiang is the main river of South China, and experiences marked differences in flow
between dry winters and rainy summers which are typical of a monsoon climate. Near the
sea, it converges with other rivers, forming an estuary of 11,000 square kilometers, known as
the Pearl River, and located between Hong Kong and Macau.

● China has several water courses that are entirely artificial. The most emblematic of these is the
so-called Yunhe or Grand Canal, an artificial river 1801 kilometers long that connects Beijing
with Shanghai.
● Taiwan has short rivers (the largest is the Kaoping, in the South, about 170 km long) but with
high flows that cause important and frequent floods.

● In Japan, rivers are also short but with high flows. As they usually carry a lot of water and
circulate through very steep slopes, Japanese rivers are also very susceptible to flooding,
especially during the monsoon season. The longest river is the Shinano River, in Honshu,
about 370 km long.

● In the Korean peninsula, the disposition of mountain ranges also governs the type and
characteristics of the river networks. Few rivers exceed 500 km in length, taking an E-W
direction.