ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses history by way of a brief review of oriental globalization and reflects on the geographical categories used. It discusses a sectoral comparison of trends in agriculture, industry and services in Northeast Asia (NEA) and Southeast Asia (SEA). The chapter deals with China's effects in the region. It is often noted that Southeast Asia as a category is a modern notion and is wedded to the paradigm of modernizing states. East Asia in a geographical sense comprises China, Japan, North and South Korea and a broader definition includes Taiwan, Mongolia and the Russian Far Northeast. In terms of GDP per capita, Southeast Asia is tiered, with Singapore and Brunei in the first tier, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines in the second, and Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar in the third. Japan and South Korea invested in heavy industry, following the German model.
