East Asia History Essay

East Asia, which covers about seventeen percent of land area of the Asia continent with China as the largest nation, began to perform as a significant factor in the world’s economy in this modern period. East Asia comprises of countries such as China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, including the non-independent states or political units such as Vietnam, and Macao, has remarkable transformation at the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. From this region rose the sites of early civilizations that later on spearheaded political, economic, and cultural contributions in the eastern Asian countries as it grew into rapid development. The ascendancy of powers particularly China, Japan, and Korea in the era of imperialism served as reminders of their once glorious life during the period of self-assertiveness away from the influence of Western countries. At the expense of evolution of powers in the West, China and Japan had enlarged into empires, however at the advent of political chaos brought by Western intrusion changed the course of their history, except for Korea, which gained influence from Japan. Obviously, western interventions had brought significant contribution in the political and social transformation of these countries, yet their cultural identity remained as they were before. The resistance and alienation to Western imperialism has made them gained global respect especially as they began to take advantage of economic opportunities created by their own initiatives and creativeness with the aid from the United States and United Nations in particular. In case of Korea, modernization was attained while being under the colony of Japan, which include infrastructure and health development (Myong Soo Cha). Likewise, these countries have proved that cultural distinctiveness does not affect modernization in the first place but rather enhances sophistication by utilizing their natural resources and abilities.