Suggestions for Final exam questions

What were the costs and benefits of European and American imperialism in East Asia? Describe this process by referencing two or more specific countries.


How did the relationship between the East and the West change when Communism came to power in China?


Did Japanese imperialism have any influence over the independence movements of East Asia? Describe by referring to Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.





 

China Sea Airspace Issue

There's a lot of concern within Japan's Diet over the current Chinese air defense operating in the East China Sea, which could put civilian airline planes at risk. The Japanese have request that the United Nations agency that monitors civil aviation assess the situation and see if this new system presents a danger to the stability of international aviation over the China Sea.


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/world/asia/japan-takes-airspace-issue-to-un-agency.html?ref=asia&_r=0

US process of taking over the Philippines

Hey everyone. I just found this small website that covers American imperialism. The below section does a good job of summing up how we eventually took control of the Philippines.

http://unitedstatesimperialism.wordpress.com/the-philippines/

Peace talks in the Philippines

From reading this brief article, the Muslim rebellion in the Philippines is slowly crumbling. Now it is time for the president, Benigno Aquino, to discuss peace with the leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The problem, however, is that peace negotiations have been pushed back due to concerns of whether all the necessary steps will be completed before Aquino's term ends in 2016. The question for now is if Aquino doesn't enable peace between the Muslim and Catholic communities before his term is up, how will his successor deal with the peace process?


   http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/latest-news/258138-philippines-aquino-confident-of-ending-muslim-rebellion.html

Muslim rebellion crumbling

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24279599

I thought this might be interesting to everyone since we talked about Islamic traditions and customs in Southeast Asia. It's been a real, ugly mess in the Philippines with the ongoing conflict between Muslims and the Philippine military. The constant fighting between the troops and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) has displaced thousands of people in the Southern Philippine islands. Since it started, however, reports claim that nearly 300 Muslim rebels have surrendered. This may or may not be accurate depending on if similar reports have been censored or modified within the media. A lot of the fighting has occurred in Zamboanga City, Mindanao, Philippines, where 70,000 residents have been relocated to into a now overcrowded and unsanitary sports stadium. There is information that suggests the MNLF is angry due to being put aside from peace talks between the government and another Muslim group. If you're interested in how tensions grew between the Muslim and Philippine communities, here is the link: 
http://asiasociety.org/countries/conflicts/origins-muslim-separatist-movement-philippines    

History of Bronze technology in the East

Considering how a lot of Western cultural foundations originated in Asia, I decided to look a bit further into the development of bronze technology which our ancestors used to make various weapons and tools. Chapter 5 briefly mentions the Neolithic Era as the time when the first hand tools were created to allow early humans to hunt. Archeological evidence has been uncovered within southern China, indicating the introduction of tools enabled farming and agriculture to thrived in ways impossible to achieve in the hot, dry climate of northern China.

During the Bronze Age, the Chinese people learned how to farm and cultivate food so that the upper class and other workers (bronze-smiths, miners, builders, etc.) could do their parts in sustaining Chinese civilization during the Shang Dynasty. In many ways, the societal setup was very similar to how medieval European civilization was maintained. The farmers and other workers functioned as the peasants monitored by their king's vassals so that the kingdom was prospering. Interestingly, the idea of kingship and religion was very different in the Far East from the European perspective. Another distinct aspect of Chinese royalty was the king's duty to please the ancient sun and rain gods so that the harvest in his land wouldn't be spoiled or ruined. If he wanted the gods on his side, the king had bronze vessels filled with cereals and wined heated over a fire.

The Bronze Age was an extraordinary time in China as numerous materials were made out of the bronze metal and one of the first writing systems was created during that time. One very important representation of Chinese life from this era is underground chamber full of 7,000 life-sized terracotta warriors, charioteers, and cavalry troops. This massive tomb symbolizes how the Chinese ruling families sought to honor their dead preserve their culture by making exact replicas of the people who made China what it is today.   



http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_4000bce_bronze.htm

China's response to Syria's situation

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/10/china-backs-russias-call-syria-give-chemical-weapo/

 Since China and Russia are on the same page of getting President Assad's government to give up their chemical weapons, I'm curious as to what the Chinese think about President Obama's approach to dealing Assad's regime. Obama will only authorize American forces to locate and destroy the weapons if negotiations between Syrian, American, and Russian governments. While supporting Russia in the call for Assad to surrender his WMDs, China doesn't appear to have much of a role in this conflict. However, it's likely the Chinese government will back up Russia and Syria if American military strikes commence.