Asia

Asia is one. The Himalayas divide, only to accentuate, two mighty civilisations, the Chinese with its communism of Confucius, and the Indian with its individualism of the Vedas. But not even the snowy barriers can interrupt for one moment that broad expanse of love for the Ultimate and Universal, which is the common thought-inheritance of every Asiatic race, enabling them to produce all the great religions of the world, and distinguishing them from those maritime peoples of the Mediterranean and the Baltic, who love to dwell on the Particular, and to search out the means, not the end, of life. - Okakura Kakuzō.

The question of where Europe ends and Asia begins has troubled many people over the years, but here's a rule of thumb: if someone can pose as an expert on the country in question without knowledge of the relevant language, it's part of Asia. ~ Brian Reynolds Myers

I cannot but bring to your mind those days when the whole of Eastern Asia, from Burma to Japan was united with India in the closest ties of friendship... ~ Rabindranath Tagore

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and comprises 30% of its land area. With approximately 4.3 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population. Asia has a high growth rate in the modern era. For instance, during the 20th century, Asia's population nearly quadrupled. It is maritimely bounded with Europe at the Bosphorus, and with Africa at the Suez Canal and Guardafui Channel.

Quotes

• There's a rise of terror and radicalization. There's a growing essential highway of trafficking going on of people and weapons and money from ISIS-controlled areas throughout parts of Southeast Asia. And this is something that has to be stopped
  • Patrick Cronin, senior director for the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, quoted on KRCR News (February 15, 2016), "Obama welcomes Southeast Asian leaders"

• Rapidly rising temperatures are melting the glaciers that had provided the water that is the lifeblood of Central Asia, depressing the GDPs of the countries there and threatening to make large swaths of the region uninhabitable deserts by the end of this century if current trends continue, experts say.
  • Paul A. Goble, "Desertification, Already Depressing Central Asian GDPs, Threatens to Make Parts of Region Uninhabitable", Window on Eurasia (July 20, 2019)

• Asia is one. The Himalayas divide, only to accentuate, two mighty civilisations, the Chinese with its communism of Confucius, and the Indian with its individualism of the Vedas. But not even the snowy barriers can interrupt for one moment that broad expanse of love for the Ultimate and Universal, which is the common thought-inheritance of every Asiatic race, enabling them to produce all the great religions of the world, and distinguishing them from those maritime peoples of the Mediterranean and the Baltic, who love to dwell on the Particular, and to search out the means, not the end, of life.
  • Okakura Kakuzō. The Ideals of the East with Special Reference to the Art of Japan, 1903. Okakura, Kakuzō (1903). The Ideals of the East with Special Reference to the Art of Japan. London: J. Murray. p. 1.

• When will the West understand, or try to understand, the East? We Asiatics are often appalled by the curious web of facts and fancies which has been woven concerning us. We are pictured as living on the perfume of the lotus, if not on mice and cockroaches. It is either impotent fanaticism or else abject voluptuousness. Indian spirituality has been derided as ignorance, Chinese sobriety as stupidity, Japanese patriotism as the result of fatalism.
  • Kakuzō Okakura, The Book of Tea (1906)

• The question of where Europe ends and Asia begins has troubled many people over the years, but here's a rule of thumb: if someone can pose as an expert on the country in question without knowledge of the relevant language, it's part of Asia.
  • Brian Reynolds Myers, "Mother of All Mothers" The Atlantic (September 2004)

• On this visit to Asia, I have been concerned that while many of the countries in which I have travelled are deeply aware of the threat of Communist expansion and the spectre of the third world war, they are also apprehensive that the mounting interest of the United States in this area may be just another phase of imperialism…I can say without equivocation: the United States firmly supports the orderly progress towards self-government throughout the world. The United States has no imperialistic ambitions whatsoever in Asia or in any other part of the globe.
  • Richard Nixon in Sri Lanka on November 28th, 1953. As quoted on vernoncorea, "US Vice President Richard Nixon’s broadcast over Radio Ceylon on 28th November 1953", August 23, 2013.

• We are seeing the power of economic freedom spreading around the world. Places such as the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan have vaulted into the technological era, barely pausing in the industrial age along the way. Low-tax agricultural policies in the subcontinent mean that in some years India is now a net exporter of food. Perhaps most exciting are the winds of change that are blowing over the People's Republic of China, where one-quarter of the world's population is now getting its first taste of economic freedom. At the same time, the growth of democracy has become one of the most powerful political movements of our age. In Latin America in the 1970s, only a third of the population lived under democratic government; today over 90 percent does. In the Philippines, in the Republic of Korea, free, contested, democratic elections are the order of the day. Throughout the world, free markets are the model for growth. Democracy is the standard by which governments are measured.
  • Ronald Reagan, Moscow State University Address, delivered 31 May 1988, Moscow, Russia

• I cannot but bring to your mind those days when the whole of Eastern Asia, from Burma to Japan was united with India in the closest ties of friendship...
  • Rabindranath Tagore, Essays, Nationalism in Japan, Atlantic Publishers & Dist, 2007 p.471, and quoted in A Look at India From the Views of Other Scholars, by Stephen Knapp [1]

• "Fool!" cried the hunchback. "You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia,' but only slightly less well known is this: 'Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.'"
  He was quite cheery until the iocane powder took effect.
  • William Goldman, The Princess Bride (1973), Chapter Five: The Announcement. This dialogue is faithfully replicated in the 1987 film adaptation, The Princess Bride.

• Having been through hot and cold wars, hardship and tribulations, people in Asia deeply cherish the value of peace and understand that development gains do not come easily. Over the past decades, Asia has enjoyed overall stability and sustained rapid growth, making possible the Asian Miracle. When Asia fares well, the whole world benefits. Therefore, we need to continue developing and strengthening Asia, demonstrate Asia's resilience, wisdom and strength and make Asia an anchor for world peace, a powerhouse for global growth and a new pacesetter for international cooperation.
  • Xi Jinping, "Ride on the Trend of the Times and Enhance Solidarity and Cooperation to Embrace a Better Future" (16 September 2022)

External links

• "Southeast Asia’s ‘narco-state’ and ‘scam-states’ undercut authoritarian rule boasts" by David Hutt, Radio Free Asia (December 25, 2023)
• "Southeast Asia appears stuck in a history trap" by David Hutt, Radio Free Asia (December 27, 2023)