GEOPOLITIC

S OF EAST
ASIA
ASIAN PARADOX

RISING
WEALTH
AND LINGERING
TENSIONS
PARK GEUN HYE
PRESIDENT OF SOUTH KOREA, 2013-
PRESENT
 The world under
heaven, after a long
period of division,
tends to unite after a
long period of union,
tends to divide.

LUO GUANZHONG
AUTHOR OF ROMANCE OF THE THREE
KINGDOMS
CHINAS GEOPOLITICAL IMPERATIVES

1) Maintaining
internal unity in its
core regions
CHINAS GEOPOLITICAL IMPERATIVES

2) Maintaining control
of buffer regions
CHINAS GEOPOLITICAL IMPERATIVES

3) Protecting the
coast

MAO ZEDONG
FOUNDING FATHER OF THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF
CHINA
CHINAS GEOPOLITICAL IMPERATIVES

Introduced economic
reforms [Gig
kifng] which
reopened China to the
outside world

DENG XIAOPING
MOST PROMINENT LEADER OF PRC FROM 1978-1989
CHINAS GEOPOLITICAL IMPERATIVES

4) Protecting China's strategic trade

routes, resources and markets from
foreign interdiction
ISSUES IN CHINESE
GEOPOLITICS
1) Dam constructions

Six dams along the

Chinese portion of the
Mekong may serve as
leverage to countries
downstream in times
of drought
ISSUES IN CHINESE
GEOPOLITICS
1) Dam
constructions
Four dams along the
Brahmaputra may
help assert Chinas
claim on Arunachal
Pradesh, a border
province in NE India
ISSUES IN CHINESE
GEOPOLITICS
2) Taiwan or Chinese
Taipei or Republic of
China
The two countries are the
only countries, which
claim the entirety of the
other
ISSUES IN CHINESE
GEOPOLITICS
2) Taiwan or Chinese
Taipei or Republic of
China
Taiwanese nationalism
hinders moves toward
integration and a pro-
independence president
in power creates TSAI INGWEN
PRESIDENT OF TAIWAN,

tensions 2016-PRESENT
 JAPANS GEOPOLITICAL
IMPERATIVES
1) Establish and
maintain central
authority and
internal unity in the
home islands

MEIJI [MUTSUHITO]
EMPEROR OF JAPAN, 1868-1912
 JAPANS GEOPOLITICAL
IMPERATIVES
2) Gain sovereignty
over peripheral seas
and islands

3) Secure autonomy
by controlling
strategic approaches
to the home islands
 JAPANS GEOPOLITICAL
IMPERATIVES
4) Acquire necessary
goods, resources, and
labor by expanding
military or mercantilist
power farther abroad
NORTH KOREAS CORE
IMPERATIVES
1) Secure northern
and southern
borders via political
accommodation,
defense lines, or
outward expansion
NORTH KOREAS CORE
IMPERATIVES
2) Engender strong
sense of national
unity and exploit
differences among
its neighbors to
balance external
political pressure
SOUTH KOREAS CORE
IMPERATIVES
1) Maintain strong
centralized internal
control over the
domestic population
under a single
government
SOUTH KOREAS CORE
IMPERATIVES
2) Defend the land
border, which involves
using and balancing the
involvement of outside
powers for dealing with
North Korea, but
ultimately having a say
in any policy that affects
SOUTH KOREAS CORE
IMPERATIVES
3) Secure its maritime
border and its trade routes
4) Balance international
alliances against each other
to preserve the South
Korean government's own
domestic policies and
priorities.