Modern Colonization in Asia and its Effects

Researcher: Audrey Tran

Many Asian countries have been colonized by other powers throughout history and the effects of colonization impacted each country in different ways, whether geographically, culturally, and in other ways. This article focuses more on modern colonization, which began around the 15th century. Exploring the history of colonization can help us understand more about how society today in certain Asian countries was shaped and formed and how colonization impacted these countries. Though many Asian countries were colonized by other powers, this article will only focus on a few: China, Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, and India. This article only provides a basic summary of modern colonization in these countries and the impacts; we encourage you to read further into the history and the issues that came along with it.

China

From the 1700s, there was a strong British presence in China; however, the British never officially took over China but had a strong political influence. The first signs of economic imperialism were during the mid-1500s when Portuguese traders paid for access to ports in Macau on China’s far south-east coast. In 1711, the British East India Company established a trading post there. British imperialism in China was based on economic incentives; in the British market, there was a high demand for Chinese tea, silk, and porcelain. Throughout the 1700s, China’s imperial system flourished under the Qing Dynasty, with Europeans and Americans seeking goods from China. Britain would ship cotton from India and silver from Britain to China and Chinese tea and other goods to Britain. During the 18th and 19th centuries, trade between the two nations was in China’s power because the British enjoyed Chinese tea and other goods such as porcelain and silk, while the Chinese did not desire any goods produced in Britain, so Britain had to pay with silver to purchase Chinese goods. 

Towards the late 1700s, China experienced internal strains, with an increase in population that taxed food supply and government control, which led to rebellions and the weakening of the central government. Eventually, Britain tried to replace cotton with opium, an addictive narcotic extracted from poppy flowers grown in India and was generally taken through smoking. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the British shipped supplies of opium to China, and now, China had to pay with silver. As opium supplies increased in China, so did the number of addicts and societal instability. Many people who stopped using opium experienced chills, nausea, and cramps and some even died from withdrawal. The Qing government tried to ban opium imports but the British generally ignored them and even hired private British and American traders to bring opium transports to China. Chinese smugglers distributed the opium transports throughout China through Chinese middlemen. From 1810 to 1838, opium imports to China increased from 4,500 chests to 40,000. 

The Chinese government decided that they needed to enforce the ban, and they came to the conclusion to crack down on the use of opium. A letter was written and sent to Queen Victoria about the opium imports. Over 1,600 Chinese dealers were arrested and foreign trade was stopped, confining foreign merchants to certain areas because the British refused to give up their opium supplies in exchange for tea. Eventually, the foreign merchants gave up 2.6 million pounds of opium, and the opium on British ships was destroyed by Chinese troops. A series of events between the Chinese and the British led to the Opium War of 1839. The Chinese were defeated by the British and the treaties signed between the two opened ports to trade, imposed foreign legal jurisdiction on Chinese territory in ports, gave foreign control of tariffs, and permitted a Christian missionary presence in China. A second Opium War broke out in 1856 and lasted until 1860 when the British and French captured Beijing and established even more unfair treaties, indemnities, and 11 more treaty ports. Christian missionary presence increased and the opium trade was legalized. 

In the late 1800s, China was carved up into “spheres of influence” by powers such as Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and Japan, who negotiated with regional officials and warlords to establish their own “spheres of influence” and held strong influence over trade and the military. These “spheres of influence” functioned similarly to virtual colonies within China. Although Qing rulers retained sovereignty and control of the national government, much of China was under foreign control. Han Chinese citizens did not feel a strong sense of loyalty to the Qing emperors, who were Manchus and were seen as a “foreign” dynasty. With the loss of the Opium Wars, the citizens felt that the emperors needed to be overthrown. In 1900, Chinese peasants started the Boxer Rebellion, which opposed the Qing ruling family and foreign powers such as Europe and Japan. Some called for the overthrow of the Qing emperors and the replacement with a constitutional rule. 

The Qing dynasty gradually decreased during the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century and the dynasty officially collapsed in 1912. The Republican era of China began and Sun Yat-Sen was elected as president. However, power was decentralized and regional warlords and militias claimed independence from the government and fought to overpower. On May 4, 1919, a student protest, known as the May Fourth Movement, took place with thousands of students protesting against the national government, and similar marches were held in other cities. Several thousand students gathered in front of Tiananmen, an entryway to the Forbidden City, which was previously home to Chinese rulers. The students were outraged that the ending terms of World War I would grant Japan former German territories in Shandong (eastern China) instead of returning the lands to China. They were also upset that their own leaders were failing to protect their homeland. Eventually, the Chinese government instructed its representatives to refuse to sign the Treaty of Versailles, dismissed a few officials that were deemed as corrupt by the protestors, and released all of the students who were detained. Even though the Treaty of Versailles went into effect and Japan was given the former German territories in China, the movement became a symbol of how mass action led by students was powerful and impactful. Eventually, young intellectuals became interested in learning about Marxist ideals of socialism, and on July 1, 1921, the Chinese Communist Party was officially founded by Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao, and Mao Zedong.  

As internal and external factors weakened the Qing Dynasty, many foreign powers saw it as an opportunity to claim parts of China and created “spheres of influence.” The presence of foreign powers and the “spheres of influence” further contributed to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and led to conflicts with other nations, especially with the Treaty of Versailles after World War I. 

Korea

Korea was part of the Chinese “tribute system” for many centuries and had to give regular gifts to the Chinese court and acknowledge the superiority of the Chinese emperor over the Korean king. Other than that, Korea was generally independent in its internal behaviors. However, as the Qing Empire declined and Western powers competed in East Asia, many imperial powers became interested in Korea, and countries such as Britain, France, and the United States tried to start trade with Korea and implement diplomatic relations, but Korea resisted. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Japan, China, and Russia were the main rivals for influence until Japan defeated China and Russia in a war between 1895 and 1905. After that, Japan became the predominant power in Korea and annexed Korea as a colony in 1910.  

Japan ruled Korea over the next 35 years in a cruel and brutal manner. During the Japanese occupation, schools and universities banned speaking Korean, and authorities burned over 200,000 Korean historical documents, virtually wiping out memories of Korea’s history. Japan took over Korea’s labor and land and allowed almost 100,000 Japanese families to settle in the land. Close to 725,000 Korean workers were forced to work in Japan and its other colonies, and between 1932 and 1945, Japan forced hundreds of thousands of Korean women into military brothels, where they were threatened and beaten and were forced to have sex with their captors under inhumane and brutal conditions. The end of World War II did not end military brothels in Japan; US authorities allowed them to operate past the end of the war until 1946. By then, between 20,000 and 410,000 women had been forced into sexual slavery in at least 125 brothels and an estimated 90% did not survive the war. 

At the end of World War II, Japan lost and surrendered to the Allies. After the war, Koreans hoped to become a single independent country, and South Korean political parties were even formed with candidates and plans for forming a government in Seoul. Instead, Korea was divided into two separate states: North and South, and was separated by a border known as the 38th parallel. The location of the 38th Parallel crippled the economy on both sides. The US-appointed Syngman Rhee, an anti-communist leader, to rule South Korea, while the Soviets appointed Kim Il-sung as leader of North Korea. An agreement was made between the Soviet Union and the US that the Soviet Union would occupy the north of Korea while the US would occupy the south of Korea until the establishment of an independent and unified Korean government. Elections were planned to be held in 1948 to reunify Korea, but the US and the Soviet Union did not trust each other. By 1947, the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the US and the differences in politics between Koreans of the two occupation zones made it difficult to negotiate a unified government, as the US wanted Korea to be democratic and capitalist while the Soviets wanted Korea to be communist. 

On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces, backed by China and the Soviet Union, crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea, determined to unify Korea under the rule of leader Kim Il Sung. The war began, with the South Korean forces backed by United Nations forces, including the US. The war ended in July of 1953, with close to five million people dead, more than half of who were civilians. While an armistice agreement was signed by North Korea and the UN in 1953 to end hostilities in Korea by armed forces, no peace treaty was ever signed between the North and the South Korean governments to re-establish relations. 

The US got involved in Korea out of fear that Soviet communism would spread in a specific country and then eventually spread to the surrounding countries. This belief was known as the domino theory, the idea that Americans had to stop the first domino from falling into communism to prevent communism from spreading to other countries. The US used the Domino Theory to justify US intervention in Korea and in the war, which killed millions of civilians. Many were killed by US and UN aerial bombing and refugees returning home would have to walk over many dead bodies in the forest. The country was devastated and the industry was destroyed. After the Japanese occupation ended, Koreans saw a glimmer of hope that their country would be reunited as one. However, Western powers divided the country into two, destroying any hope of reunification. The Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union contributed to the tensions between the two occupation zones, which eventually led to the Korean War, which claimed millions of lives and devastated the country. The war divided the country and tensions and military clashes occurred along the zone well into the 21st century.

Vietnam

French occupation of Vietnam started around the 1880s and lasted more than six decades. During this time, Vietnam was a part of French Indochina, which also included Laos and Cambodia. The nation was split into three different provinces: Tonkin (north), Annam (central coast), and Cochinchina (south). French colonialism focused mainly on production, profit, and labor since Vietnam was abundant in supplies of zinc, tin, and coal, as well as cash crops like rubber, rice, coffee, and tea. The political management of French Indochina was left to a series of governors who held a lot of power; the emperors of Vietnam had little power over politics and were only figurehead monarchs. The French seized large areas of land and reorganized them into large plantations. Workers on the plantations worked long hours, sometimes up to 15 hours, for small wages, and some were even paid in rice rather than money. The French heavily taxed the Vietnamese people to fund public works, which devastated the rural economy and created great wealth inequalities. 

Japan invaded Vietnam in 1940, which caused mixed reactions among the Vietnamese, as some believed that Japanese occupation would be better than French occupation, while others believed that the Japanese were no different than the French. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, Japan withdrew its forces from Vietnam, leaving Emperor Bao Dai in control. Ho Chi Minh, a Vietnamese Communist leader that helped establish the Indochinese Communist Party in 1930 and the Viet Minh in 1941, saw this as a chance to seize control. He and the Viet Minh forces took over the city of Hanoi in Northern Vietnam and declared a Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) with Ho as the president. However, France was determined to regain control over Vietnam, so France backed Emperor Bao and formed the state of Vietnam in July 1949, with the city of Saigon as the capital. Even though both sides wanted a unified Vietnam, Ho and his supporters wanted to model Vietnam after other communist countries, while Bao and many others wanted Vietnam to have close ties to the West. At the Geneva Conference in 1954, representatives of the DRV, France, the State of Vietnam, and others agreed that Vietnam would be divided in half along the 17th Parallel, in which the Viet Minh would control the Northern section and the State of Vietnam would control the Southern section. In 1956, elections would be held to decide which would govern the whole country. However, the US and the State of Vietnam never signed the Geneva Accords and merely acknowledged that the agreement was made. 

By 1959, the Viet Cong and other opponents started to fight with the South Vietnamese army. The US intervened in Vietnam, providing American military training and equipment and by March 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson made the decision to send US combat forces into battle in Vietnam to fight in the war. However, after the Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 27, 1973, American troops withdrew from Vietnam. Under the terms of the accords, a complete ceasefire in South Vietnam allowed North Vietnamese troops to take the territory they captured and forced them to release US prisoners of war. Even though US forces left the country, fighting continued until April 30, 1975, when North Vietnamese troops captured Saigon and South Vietnam surrendered.

After two decades of a violent and bloody war, between 2 to 4 million Vietnamese civilians were killed, 3 million were wounded, and another 12 million became refugees. The country’s infrastructure was destroyed by bombing and landmines and its landscapes were ruined by toxic chemicals such as Agent Orange. Bombs were dropped on thousands of villages, the most common being cluster bombs, which were designed to explode near ground level and release metal fragments to maim and kill.

French occupation influenced various factors such as architecture, food, and education. During the French occupation, traditional temples, pagodas, monuments, and buildings were destroyed and replaced by French-styled buildings, which you can see throughout different cities in Vietnam. Vietnamese food such as banh mi, bo kho, and banh xeo took influence from French cuisine. In terms of education, the French opened primary schools with lessons in both French and Vietnamese languages and in 1902, colonists opened the University of Hanoi. Some Vietnamese students were given scholarships to study in France. However, there was little attempt to educate the children of peasant farmers since educational opportunities were usually given to those living in cities, and at school, the syllabuses emphasized the supremacy of French culture and values. Though French occupation brought along many new aspects that Vietnam is known for today, it is important not to forget the cruel treatment that the Vietnamese had to endure and note that French occupation was one of the factors that led to the war, which devastated the country and took the lives of millions of Vietnamese civilians. 

The Philippines 

Before the arrival of Spanish missionaries and explorers, Islam was introduced in the Philippines through trade with merchants from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Middle East in the late 14th century. It wasn’t until the 16th century when Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer, brought Catholicism. Magellan arrived on Homonhon Island in 1521 and claimed the lands in the name of Spain. The Spanish had three objectives in the Philippines: to take part in the spice trade, to develop contacts with China and Japan to send Christian missionaries, and to convert the Filipinos to Christianity. Eventually, Magellan and his crew went to other islands such as Cebu; however, Magellan died after landing on a nearby island called Mactan. King Phillip II of Spain sent three other expeditions that failed. Eventually, he sent Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, who established the first permanent Spanish settlement in Cebu in 1565. Friars arrived to convert more Filipinos to Roman Catholicism. 

Within 25 years, around a quarter of a million Filipinos converted to Christianity, which at the time was half of the entire population. When it came to enforcing Spanish policies, the Church and state were inseparable. Some historians believe that much of the tensions and social upheavals in the Philippines were caused by the actions of the Church and Spanish colonial authorities during the Spanish colonial period. Some Filipino clergy and the Catholic population of the Philippines were upset by the lack of access to proper religious training. For the Filipino clergy, a lack of religious training meant fewer chances to rise to higher positions in the Church and make changes in their country. The Spanish authorities and Catholic officials were worried that more education would lead to Filipino independence, which could result in the loss of control and revenue for the Church and the Spanish crown. 

The Spanish introduced the institution of private land ownership. Before the arrival of the Spanish, the land was generally shared by the entire community. However, when the Spanish came, they established private property, which led to much of native landholding being alienated and ending up in private hands. The Spanish gave land grants to Spaniards, which often included communal lands, and members of the principal also sold or donated communal lands that they believed were private ownership. Because of this, the Tagalogs, the natives of Manila, lost hereditary individual and communal landholdings. As the institution of private property was implemented, it exposed the native population to more economic exploitation and changed the structure of indigenous society. Because of the loss of individual and communal lands, the Tagalogs became tenants, sharecroppers, and paid or unpaid farm laborers. 

In 1892, the Katipunan was formed, an organization of people from lower and middle classes that joined together to revolt against Spanish rule and was led by Andres Bonifacio. After Spanish authorities found out about the Katipunan, they made several arrests in an attempt to identify the members. Bonifacio and his members planned a nationwide revolt, which resulted in an event known as the “Cry of Pugad Lawin”, where revolutionaries tore down cedulas (community tax certificates) to demonstrate their fight against Spain. Bonifacio also planned an attack on Manila, but despite their greater numbers, the Spanish authorities were more armed. However, revolts continued on and under Emilio Aguinaldo, the Philippine Revolution officially began. The US began to intervene during the Spanish-American War in 1898. US forces worked with Emilio Aguinaldo and the Filipino revolutionaries and defeated Spain in just a few months. On December 10, 1898, the Treaty of Paris was signed, which allowed the US to pursue the Philippines from Spain for $20 million. William McKinley, the US president at the time, believed that the Filipinos could not govern themselves and would need help from the US, so the Philippines became an American colony. The Filipinos were outraged by the actions of the US and continued to defy the US colonization of the Philippines. 

The Philippine-American War began in February of 1899 with the Battle of Manila, which was fought between 15,000 armed Filipino soldiers and 19,000 US soldiers, ending with US victory. Throughout the whole war, the US had a military advantage, as the army had a constant supply of weapons and manpower, with the US Congress deploying 60,000 troops to subdue the Filipinos, and by the end of 1899, there were 65,000 US troops in the Philippines. The Filipinos experienced constant shortages of arms and ammunition, as their movement did not gain international support and the Filipino army suffered serious losses. The war was declared over by US President Theodore Roosevelt on July 4, 1902. Although the Philippine-American War was relatively short, it was bloody and violent. Around 20,000 Filipino revolutionaries and 4,200 American soldiers died during the war. It wasn’t until 1946 when the US government and the Philippines signed the Treaty of Manila, which officially recognized the independence of the Philippines. 

During US colonization, English became the official language of the Philippines and also became a sign of higher social status. Today, many Filipinos are comfortable speaking English. During Spanish colonization, the Spanish introduced Catholicism to the Philippines and converted many Filipinos, and as a result, the majority of the population are Catholics. The Spanish saw the Filipinos as “savages” and believed that they needed to be “controlled and civilized.” Under Spanish rule, Filipinos had to adopt the beliefs and values of the Spanish colonizers and as a result, the idea that the Spanish were “superior” led to what is known as “colonial mentality”, the feelings of inferiority due to the white standards of the colonizers. 

India 

The discovery of sea routes to India around 1498 caught European’s attention and European powers quickly came to India to get their own trading post, eventually becoming interested in gaining territory, such as the British. In 1599, the British East India Company was formed under a charter that was granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1600. However, the British government had no controlling authority over the company and the British merchants and aristocrats held shares in the joint-stock company. The British East India Company,  a charter that was granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1600, came to India to trade in spices, silk, cotton, indigo dye, tea, and opium. Eventually, the Company started to intervene in politics in India and slowly changed from a trading company into a ruling one. 

After the revolt of 1857, the British East India Company officially claimed dominance over India, and on August 2, 1858, the British government officially established rule over India. The India Act transferred control to the British crown, and the period of British rule was known as the British Raj (1858 – 1947). In India, British economic policies were repressive and benefited off the people of India.  Laws were passed to force Indian citizens to produce crops for use in English factories instead of producing crops for food. India also experienced several severe famines and approximately 55 million Indians died from famine during the British rule. Some believe that the severity of the famines could have been lessened with different economic policies. The British controlled the government, tax collection, and determined what passed for justice, in which Indians were excluded from all these functions. The British East India Company established private armies made up of Indian soldiers known as “sepoys”, who were trained in the latest European military standard to maintain order and defend trading centers and were extremely loyal to British officers. 

However, the British East India Company began to force taxes on the Indian people, including the sepoys, and pushed European customs and religious practices on sepoy soldiers. The increasing mistrust in the British led to the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857, an early example of revolt against the British and was viewed as the first part of an independence movement against British rule. The uprising was very bloody and violent, and although fights occurred in some places well into 1858, the British were able to establish control. Because of the uprising, the British government got rid of the East India Company and took direct control of India. The uprising was officially over on July 8, 1859, and India was legally considered a British colony. 

British rule struggled in the late 19th century and early 20th century because of several factors such as the Indian Independence Movement, which occurred from 1857 to 1947. The Indian National Congress was formed in 1885 because of an increase in Indian nationalism in the late 1800s. The Indian National Congress was created to promote self-government for the Indian people and boost the independence movement against British imperialism. An important figure in the independence movement was Mahatma Gandhi, who organized protests for an end to British imperialism. He believed that Indians should stop cooperating with the British and stop following British laws; therefore, the British will be compelled to adapt to the Indian people and India could gain their independence. Gandhi argued that the people of Indian had to follow civil disobedience through non-violence, such as hunger strikes and other non-violent forms of protest. The Indian National Congress was formed in 1885 because of an increase in Indian nationalism in the late 1800s. The Indian National Congress was created to promote self-government for the Indian people and boost the independence movement against British imperialism. Eventually, the British realized that it was too difficult to maintain control over India, and in 1947, the British approved the partition of India. On July 18th, the British parliament passed the Indian Independence Act, which formally acknowledged India’s independence and partition and the end of British imperial rule in India. 

British colonization of India affected certain aspects, such as the economy. During the British Raj, agriculture in India became commercialized and crops were harvested more for sale rather than consumption at home. Because of the Industrial Revolution, the demand for raw materials such as sugarcane and raw cotton for British industries increased. The exploitation of India drained and weakened the economy of India. In some areas, commercialization increased so much that people could not produce food crops for themselves to eat. Land previously used to produce food crops changed to grow non-food crops such as raw materials. This contributed to the many famines that people in India suffered from. However, the British also introduced a democratic system and transformed India from independent monarchical states to a united nation. In turn, this helped create feelings of nationalism and led to several social reform and independence movements. However, it is important to remember the human rights violations during the British colonization of India and that the reason for the need for an independence movement was because of British rule over India.

In general, modern colonization affected Asia in several ways, one of them being beauty standards. Throughout Asia, darker skin tones are seen as “ugly” while lighter skin tones are seen as “ideal” and fair. Throughout many Asian countries, darker skin tones are associated with lower classes while lighter skin tones are associated with the wealthy. Although this belief was not introduced by Western powers, it was definitely emphasized. Europeans were deemed as the “superior” race, while those colonized were considered lower class. This belief is passed down through generations and manifests itself in Asia’s obsession with light skin. Skin-whitening products are popular in several Asia countries, as they promise “flawless beauty and skin.” 

Western ideals affected LGBTQ+ rights in Asia as well. Throughout the history of Asia, Asian countries have had a thriving LGBTQ+ community with many known figures being a part of the community. In imperial China, there were several Han dynasty emperors that were gay or bisexual. Scholars state that tales such as Long Yang and Emperor Ai of Han depicted same-sex relationships and were well known throughout Chinese history. In India, there are many stories about LGBTQ+ figures and there is a long history of transgender and non-binary individuals known as the Hijra community. However, many of the homophobic and transphobic laws and ideals came around the same time as the Western powers made their presence in Asia. In China, derogatory terms for men who have sexual relationships with other men appeared around the same time when Christian missionaries began to spread teachings that homosexuality was a sin. In India, the British Raj criminalized sodomy and tried to outlaw the community of Hijra. The laws established under British rule perpetuated the idea that the gender binary was the norm. 

Although modern colonization may have brought positive changes to factors such as education systems and politics and introduced modernization and industrialization, it is important to remember that that does not excuse the human rights violations and brutal treatment of those colonized and that colonization often brought devastation and suffering to these countries.  

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• Perez, Dudez, “Asia’s Obsession with White Skin and Lightening Products Runs Deeper Than You Think”, Eco Warrior Princess, 27 June 2019, https://ecowarriorprincess.net/2019/06/why-asia-obsessed-white-skin-whitening-products/  

• Wong, Brian, “Homophobia is Not an Asian Value. It’s Time for the East to Reconnect to Its Own Traditions of Tolerance”, Time, 17 December 2020, https://time.com/5918808/homophobia-homosexuality-lgbt-asian-values/