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East Asia & SE Asia
Mongolia, China, Japan,
Korea, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand,
Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia,
Indonesia, & the
Philippines
Mongolia
• Mongolia was a communist nation from 1921-1992 under the influence of the Soviet Union
• Became a democratic Parliamentary Republic in 1992
• Switch to a market economy had a few problems, high inflation & food shortages
• Has good relations with Russia, China, North & South Korea, Japan , & the USA
China
• Most populous nation• Totalitarian Communist nation• Currently allowing more capitalist ideas to
filter in• 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising caused
another crack down • Dilemma-How to become part of the
world’s market economy & maintain totalitarian control?
China Today• Showing off to the world
with the Beijing Olympics & the Shanghai World Expo
• Has power because it is the largest market in the world
• Also becoming one of the top lenders in the world, recently helped “bail out” the US market
• Has a horrible human rights record
North Korea
• Totalitarian Communist Regime• Led by Kim Jong Un• Has been in the news for claiming to
have nuclear weapons• Arresting 2 US reporters & tried them
as spies• Sinking a South Korean naval ship at
the end of March 2010 in violation of the truce signed in 1953 ending the Korean War
North Korea Today
South Korea
• The Republic of Korea was established on August 15, 1945 after it was liberated from Japan with the end of WWII
• Korea went from being one of the poorest nations in the world immediately after WWII to having one of the 20 largest economies in the world
• The Asian Financial crisis of 1997-1998 forced economic reforms that have protected them in the recent economic downturn
South Korea Today
• South Korea has built a hi-tech industrialized economy
• There has been some political issues following the suicide of the former President Roh Moo-Hyun in May 2009
• North Korea sank a South Korean naval ship on March 26, 2010 killing 46 of the 104 sailors on board, they have taken the issue to the U.N. Security Council
Vietnam
• Communist state with a single party system
• The government has “committed” to a “liberal, integrated” modern economy since the 1990s, it remains one of the poorer nations in the world
• There has been a more open culture in the last 20 years
Images of Vietnam
• Gained independence from Britain in 1948• Taken over by General Ne Win in 1962 &
became a Socialist Republic in 1974, he ruled until 1988
• 1990 open elections were held• 1997 a military junta seized power again
Myanmar(Burma)
Myanmar Today
• The leader of the opposition party, Aung San Suu Kyi has been held under strict house arrest since 1989
• She has been beaten the few times she has been released & even punished when a western journalist swam to her house in May 2009
• Military leaders rejected international aid after a devastating cyclone in May 2008 because they refused to allow workers into the country
Thailand
• Constitutional Monarchy
• Has seen rapid economic growth due to increased tourism
Tsunami
• December 26, 2004 a 9.1-9.3 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra caused a devastating tsunami
• Close to 230,000 people died throughout the Indian Ocean Basin, one of the worst natural disasters in recorded history
Laos
• Gained independence from France in 1949
• Became a communist nation in 1975• Closely aligned with Vietnam• Began to decentralize the economy in
1988
Cambodia• Gained independence
from France in 1953
• Communist Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, won a five year civil war in 1975
• Khmer Rouge killed ~25% of the population in the 5 years they ruled
• Attempted to recreate the Khmer Empire
Cambodia Cont’d
• Vietnamese occupied from 1978-1988, civil war ended in 1991
• Government elections held in 1993 & 1998
• Pol Pot was captured & tried in 1997, he died under house arrest in April 1998
• It is a constitutional monarchy today
• Elections in July 2008 were peaceful
Malaysia
• Established in 1963 from several independent states
• Home to Singapore, the busiest port in the world
Indonesia
• Gained independence in 1945
• A Democratic Republic
• Current hot bed of terrorist activity
• 17,508 islands in the South Pacific
• Largest Muslim population in the world
Philippines
• Former U.S. colony from the Spanish American War
• Gained independence in 1946• Ruled by dictator Ferdinand
Marcos from 1966-1986• Democratic government
established in 1986 when Corazon Aquino was elected president
• Has had relatively peaceful transfers of power for the last 27 years