Comments by "K `" (@user-jt3dw6vv4x) on "Does Turkey Belong To Asia or Europe? | Street Interview" video.

It's so annoying when people say this because it just shows one's ignorance of Asian history and cultures. China and India are the two main cultural powers in Asia and culturally influenced East, South and Southeast Asia. People always make this distinction that "Asia" makes no sense and talk about East Asia and South Asia simply because the majority of people of East Asia and South Asia look different from each other but the reality is that culture is the binding factor here, not facial features. Ancient Asians had their own ideas of Asia such as the Japanese with the concept of "Sangoku" which centred on China, India and Japan and defined due to cultural similarities. When Imperial Japan invaded and colonised large parts of Asia during WW2 they were doing so in order to unite the areas of Asia that were culturally influenced by China and India in order to create the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Since the Age of Exploration, Europeans have tried to divide Asians up - they did this in Singapore creating ethnic ghettos and separating the Chinese, Malays and Indians from living together, they did the same in Malaysia and sowed division in other colonies of the regions such as Myanmar and Sri Lanka. This ignorance of Asia and this idea that the concept of "Asia" makes no sense is why the Chinese government's pro-Asian rhetoric is at an all time high today, so high that it has gained sympathisers in other parts of Asia believing in ideas that Americans and Westerners in general are a threat to the stability of Asia and being radicalised into believing in Asiacentrism - in order words the CCP is echoing the same views that the Japanese did during WW2 and people in the West continue to think the concept of "Asia" makes no sense.
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People always speak about the European view but never look at the Asian perspective. Ancient Asia had its own ideas of "Asia" such as the Japanese, these definitions may not have encompassed the entire continent as defined today but it did encompass most of the continent. Imperial Japan used these ancient ideas of "Asia" as the basis for its pan-Asian ideal it propagated during the 1940s.
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@superpowerdragon You make a valid point and I am well aware that East Asia and South Asia have cultural and genetic differences but the cultural differences aren't stark in the way that you're describing if I am not mistaken. It's not like comparing the cultures of Europe to East Asia. I'm South Asian and a Buddhist so I really do notice the similarities between the regions in a broader sense owing to the cultural impact of India and Buddhism. Yes at the base level, East Asia is Sinic and South Asia is Indic but the two cultural spheres came in contact with each other and influenced one another to a great degree. For example, the Five Precepts of Daoism are the exact same as the Five Precepts of Buddhism, the important ritual and holiday of the Hungry Ghost festival and one of the most popular deities in Asia, including in East Asia, Guanyin is of Indian origin and the pagoda style used across Asia is of Nepalese origin. This is why the Indic and Sinic cultural heritage of most of Asia is compared to the Greco-Roman heritage of Europe. It is also why concepts like Sangoku emerged in ancient Asia because the cultural division isn't as stark as you're making it out to be. The Sinosphere and Indosphere are distinct but came in considerable contact with each other and we can see the cultural elements that emerged from this contact in various parts of the continent, particularly in Southeast Asia.
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@superpowerdragon Culturally speaking, Asia and Europe can be divided. The only Asian region that would fall within the European side would be West Asia due to its historical connections to Mediterranean Europe and being the birthplace of Abrahamic religions. Genetically speaking, the concepts of Asia and Europe make no sense hence why "Eurasia" is used in genetics because Eurasia is made up of two broad genetic components, West Eurasian and East Eurasian. West Eurasian is the dominant and native component of Europe and West Asia and East Eurasian is the dominant component of North, East and Southeast Asia. Central Asia and South Asia are a mix of West and East Eurasian DNA and are a bridge between the western and eastern regions of Eurasia. I assume you already knew this because you seem to be knowledgeable on this subject.
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@superpowerdragon I brought up the CCP because the CCP is echoing the pan-Asian views of Imperial Japan. The CCP is using common Eastern cultural heritage to gain a foothold in various Asian countries whilst propagating anti-Western sentiment - a very similar strategy to Imperial Japan. For example, the CCP has engaged in something that has come to be known as "Buddhist diplomacy" in various countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand and is successfully broadcasting Chinese culture and ideas through TV dramas and radio broadcasts in countries like the Philippines - capitalising on the already big obsession with Asian (Korean, Thai, Japanese) TV dramas in the Philippines.
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