ASIA y PACIFICO
Licenciatura en Relaciones
Internacionales
Materia en linea y a distancia
Clave 1604
Segundo semestre
Estudios Regionales
Materia obligatoria
8 créditos
Semestre 2009-I
Tutora: Rivera Angel Natalia UNIDAD 1. ASIA Y EL PACIFICO: PRECISIONES CONCEPTUALES
Lectura 1, Borthwick, Mark; Pacific Century. The Emergency of Modern Pacific
Asia. Westview Press, Second Edition, 1988, pp. 1-11
Lectura 2. Uscanga, Carlos; Regionalismos y Mecanismos de Cooperacién
Regional en la Cuenca del Pacifico. UNAM, FCPy8, 2000, pp. 1-16 (Nota: La
lectura completa se empleard para la Unidad 7)
UNIDAD 2. LAS RAICES RELIGIIOSAS E HISTORICO CULTURALES DEL
ASIA Y PACIFICO.
Lectura 1. Gonzélez, Torres, Yolott; "Las Religiones en Asia” en Toledo, Daniel
(editor); Asia y Africa en la Historia’, México, UAM-1, 1996, pp. 131-150.
Lectura 2. Von, Grunebaun G. E; “China el Asia Oriental’, en EI /slam, Tomo
ll. Desde fa Caida de Constantinopla hasta nuestros dias. Historia Universal,
Mexico, Siglo XXI, 1971, pp. 254-293.
Lectura 3. Simone, Vera y Thompson Feraru, Anne; The Asian Pacific, Political
and Economic Development in a Global Context, Longman Publishers,
California, 1995, pp. 23-30
UNIDAD 3. ASIA Y EL PACIFICO: PROCESOS Y TRANSFORMACIONES
HISTORICAS: DEL ENCUENTRO CON EUROPA AL PRELUDIO DE LA
TRANSFORMACION MOFERNA.
Lectura 1. Preston, P. W; Pacific Asia in the Global System, Blackwell
Publishers, USA, 1998, pp. 54-86.
Lectura 2. Bianco Lucien; Asia Contempordnea, (India), Siglo XXI, México,
1987, pp. 5-44, 155-166.
Lectura 3. Simone, Vera y Thompson Feraru, Anne; The Asian Pacific, Political
and Economic Development in a Global Context, Longman Publishers,
California, 1995, pp, 23-59, 61-101 y 263-311
Lectura 4. Bianco Lucien; Asia Contemporénea, (Japén), Siglo XXI, México,
1987 pp. 45-55 y 238-265.
UNIDAD 4. EL NUEVO ENTORNO POLTICO DE LA POSGUERRA EN EL
ESCENARIO REGIONAL DEL ASIA Y EL PACIFICO.
Lectura 1. Simone, Vera y Thompson Feraru, Anne; The Asian Pacific, Political
and Economic Development in a Global Context, Longman Publishers,
California, 1995, pp. 103-156. UNIDAD 5. LA REESTRUCTURACION Y EL DESARROLLO ECONOMICO
EN EL ASIA Y EL PACIFICO.
Lectura 1. Lépez, Villafafie, Victor; La nueva era del capitalismo, Japon y
Estados Unidos en la Cuenca del Pacifico, 1945-2000, México, Siglo XXI, 1994,
pp. 15-96,
Lectura 2. Bekerman, Marta; Sirlin, Pablo; y Streb, Maria Luisa; “El milagro
econémico asiatico Corea, Taiwan, Malasia y Tailandia” en Comercio Exterior,
Vol. 45, Num. 4, Abril de 1995, pp. 310-318.
Lectura 3. Gonzalez, Juan; “Historia econémica de la Republica Popular de
China en la posguerra: una perspectiva institucional” en Carlos Uscanga. Asia
Pacifico en la Posguerra Espacios de Interaccion Econémica y Politica. México,
FCPyS-UNAM, 2001, pp. 45-71.
Lectura 4. Comision Econémica para América Latina y el Caribe, CEPAL,
Impacto de la crisis asiatica en América Latina, ONU, Santiago de Chile, Mayo,
1998, pp. 5-42
Lectura 5. Cruz, Zamorano, Alma Rosa; "La India: avance tecnolégico y
pobreza extrema” en Comercio Exterior, Vol. 55, Nim. 1, Febrero de 2005, pp.
58-66.
UNIDAD 6. LOS ESCENARIOS POLITICOS Y DE SEGURIDAD EN
EL ASIA Y EL PACIFICO.
Lectura 1. Shambaugh, David; “Sera China una superpotencia militar? En
Vanguardia Dossier, Barcelona, Num. 2, julio-septiembre, 2002, pp. 34-39.
Lectura 2. Uscanga, Carlos; “Desarrollo Econémico y Problemas
Geoestratégicos en Asia Pacifico” en Bonilla, Arturo y Sotomayor Margot,
Conflicto geoestratégico y armamentismo en la posguerra fria, México, UNAM,
HEc, El Caballito, 1999, pp. 89-129.
Lectura 3. Leén, Jose Luis; “De las pasiones a los intereses, Corea del Norte y
las potencias regionales en el Este Asidtico” en Leén, Jose Luis; Estrada, Jose
Luis y Turner Ernesto (coordinadores); Cooperacién y contflicto en la Cuenca
del Pacifico, México, Camara de Diputados, UAM Unidad Iztapalapa, Miguel
Angel Porrita, 2005, pp. 331-360.
UNIDAD 7. REGIONALIZACION Y GLOBALIZACION EN EL
ASIA Y EL PACIFICO.
Lectura 1. Uscanga, Carlos; Regionalismo y mecanismos de cooperacién en la
Cuenca del Pacifico, México, 2000, Serie Cuadernos de Estudios Regionales,
UNAM, FCPyS, 60 p. (La lectura se encuentra en la Unidad 1.) Lectura 2. Roman, Zavala, Alfredo; "Japon y la ASEAN, liderazgo en conflicto”,
Eje de! Comercio Exterior, Aduanas, CAAREM, Ang 6, Num. 2, 2007, pp. 42-
45.
Lectura 3, Ramirez, Bonilla, Juan José; *...Al prj
del Comercio Exterior, Aduanas, CAAREM, Afio,
ca 10 ASEAN mas Tres’, Eje
Num. 2, 2007, pp. 26-28,
ib
UNIDAD 8. EL DESARROLLO Blt ¥ LOS MOVIMIENTOS SOCIALES
EN ASIA PACIFICO.
Lectura 1. Simone, Vera y Thompson Feraru, Anne; The Asian Pacific, Political
and Economic Development in a Global Context, Longman Publishers,
California, 1995, pp. 103-156 y 213-259. /
Lectura 2. Mahbubani, Kishore, zPueden pensar los asidticos?, México, Siglo
XXI, 2002, pp. 45-85.
Lectura 3. Zakaria, Fareed; “The culture is destiny: a conversation with Lee
Kwan Yew’, Foreign Affairs, March-April, 1994, Vol. 73, No. 2 Unidad 1.
Lectura 1. Borthwick Mark, Pacific Century. The Emergency of Modern
|Pecte Asia, Westview Press, 1998, pp. 1-11 Lr my
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\sian peoples no longer need think in terms of an East Asian framework. In view of the
prevailing economic, defense, and political relations in the region, it would seem reasonable
10 take the entire Pacific Basin as the sphere of [an] emerging civilization.”
—Masakazu Yamazaki, Japanese scholar and playwright
PEKSPECTIVES ON A
PACIFIC CENTURY
“Pacific Century” has become a catchphrase
for an Asian economic renaissance. Used most
frequently with reference to the future, the term
more accurately reflects the past — a century of
modernizing encounters ‘with the West that have
profoundly shaped the region. As the new century
begins to converge with a New Asia, the term will
retain its implication for the future, for many
believe that the Pacific is giving rise to a new era
in human history.
‘This book looks but tangentially at that future,
being devoted primarily to understanding the
present Pacific Century. If the world has experi-
enced several, perhaps many of these “Pacific”
eras, surely none has been as globally significant
as the present one. The next century may bear the
sobriquét of the great ocean, but it will be a
product of the century that is now passing. By
reviewing this past we are better able to under-
stand why Pacific Asia, after more than a century
of conflict and subjugation by the West, has
revived with such force and dynamism.
The Pacific Transition
The majority of the Asia Pacific economi
have passed a set of milestones which, tak
together, constitute an unprecedented transform
tion of this broad region in a very short time.
their per capita incomes, trade and investme
volumes, education levels, and numerous oth
indicators, many of these societies have exceed:
the goals set by their most extravagant dreame
of a century ago.
The modernization period for Pacific As’
stretches back into the nineteenth century.
embraces the rise and demise of the colonial er:
birth pangs of new A: 3s, cali
and rebellions, the growth of great metropolise
export and investment booms and bust:
countless other landmarks of change. Yet th
periodin Asian history remains poorly understoc
jin the West. Coinciding with one of the greate
worldwide economic expansions int history, it w:
shaped as much as in any other region by Wester
cultural and technological influences. Asian trad
tions may have exerted counter influences in artis
tic movements and trade relationships, but th
impact from the West was proportionately greate
Introduction » 1 ‘This historic imbalance may becoming to an end
A transition is now underway that will place
Pacific Asia on a more equal footing with the West
in the coming century.
‘Already, this transition has altered the struc-
ture of world business and industry. Expanding as
they mature, Asian industries are achieving a
global reach that has displaced some industries in
the West. Like all broad impacts, this one inspires
exaggerated claims by pundits and alarmists,
some of whom predict the “Asianization of the
world” and that China will engulf the Pacific
region. But just as Mandarin is not about to
become the lingua franca of Pacific Asia —
English retains that standing outside Chinese
regions — it wouid be an exaggeration to suggest
thai the center of the world is returning to Asia.
Rather, Asia’s relationship to the world is chang-
g and imensifying. In the process, Asia will
indeed help shape the global community.
Examples abound, bet to cite only a few,
Korea now conducts more trade with the develop-
ing world than with all the developed nations
combined. Japan has timed anew toward Asia,
conducting a greater volume of trade with its
Asian neighbors than with Europe and America
together. Japan passed yet another milestone in
1995 by manufacturing more overseas than it
exported, demonstrating how extensively its
global economic activity has been dispersed.
These changes imply 4 fundamental shift in the
geographic weight of global economic activity
According to World Bank growth forecasts, the
shift will have occurred decidedly toward Asia
within a quarter century. This is part of a larger
nsition by which the so-called “developing
uations” will surpass the industrial nations in
aggregate percentage of world output, a change
that is being driven mostly from Pacific Asia.
Barring unforeseen disasters, such as a major
war or global depression, this strong economic
growth will continue even if the historically fast
pace gradually slows. For many, such a slowdown
will be welcome and overdue. The boom of the
1980s and 1990s vaulted several Asian Capitals
into the ranks of the most expensive cities in the
world. While living costs have soared, travelers
have learned that they must book flights to these
cities weeks in advance. Ports and surrounding
urban regions are straining to accommodate the
2» Pacific
Modern Western civilization has brought the
world umbrella to Asia for the first time, and
@ dual structure of civilization is now taking
shape in the region. The Asian world and
Asian civilization cited so often of late have
their origins not deep in the past but in mod-
ernization this century in an Asia in contact
with the West.
Masakazu Yamazaki
expansion. Not surprisingly. the environmental
burdens are becoming acute as well; even if for
now the remedies are being postponed in the
interest of rapid, short term growth.
Modernization implies a host of real costs to
societies, but in Asia the pejorative connotation of
the term has lost much of its impact amid a reduc-
tion of poverty on a vast scale. We are better able
tosee modernization for what it is, a dynamic mix
of global forces — economic, social, cultural, and
technological — each having a broadly unifying
effect in the Pacific Rim. The observations of
playwright Masakazu Yamazaki, quoted above,
summarize what is still only vaguely recognize
that modemization is shaping a “Pacific” civiliza-
tion built on several levels and dividing East and
‘West less than is commonly believed.
The first task, then, must be to define what is
meant by “modem” in the Asian context. The
concept of the “modem” is one that Asians have
defined in a variety of ways, ranging from an
economic and cultural state toward which they
strive to the embodiment of influences they wish
to reject. However broad the meaning, its omis-
sion from the historians vocabulary seems unnec-
essary and its use in the title of a major historical
work, The Search for Modern China, is encourag
ing. The author of that work, Jonathan Spence,
provides us with as good a definition as any of
how the term “modern” may be used in assessing,
China’s development and, by extension, that of
other nations in the Asia-Pacific region.
Lunderstand a “modern” nation to be one that
is both integrated and receptive, fairly sure of
its own identity yet able to join others on equal
terms in the quest for new markets, new tech-
nologies. new ideas. If it is used in this open sense, we should have no difficulty in seeing
“modern” as a concept that shifts with the
times as human life unfolds, instead of simply
relegating the sense of “modern” to our own
contemporary world while consigning the
past to the “traditional” and the future to the
“postmodern.”
PACIFIC ASIA: CONCEPTS,
DEFINITIONS, RATIONALE,
What Is Asia?
Asia is a concept invented by the Greeks in the
fifth century BCE*. It has survived ever since as 2
useful construct for outsiders. For Homer, the
yord “Asia” meant only the region of Anatolia
(modem Turkey). For the Greeks, who divided the
known world into three great parts, Homer’s Asia
was but “Asia Minor.” The real Asia to them was
called “Asia Major.” Evocative of a vasi, rich, and
powerful land that encompassed the Persian
Empire, then the world’s greatest empire, Asia
seemed to the Greeks to stretch unendingly
toward the east from Anatolia, Real and imaginary
images of what we now cali Asia were to haunt
the dreams of Alexander the Great in his quest to
unite the known world just the way they would
beckon countless explorers, conquerors, traders,
and wanderers in subsequent centuries.
‘The concept of “Asia,” created by-oetsiders,
clearly did not originate with Asians themselves,
but they eventually appropriated it for their own
uses and accepted a number of subdivisions
established by geographers and historians.
“South Asia” and “Southwest Asia” have been
blocked out within the Eurasian landmass, but
their boundaries remain fluid. A division of the
region according to its physical features, for
example, may have little bearing on political and
cultural areas. Thus, Southwest Asia (or West
Asia) embraces such areas as the Arabian Penin-
sula, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran but omits other parts
respectively.
* BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (Common
of the region whose transcendent feature is
Arabic language and culture. The term “Mic
East” gets us no further. It, too, is vague
strikes the inhabitants as Eurocentric, but t
call it Sharqad Alwsad, which literally me
“Middle East” in Arabic. Other parts of A
confront these same dilemmas.
In short, how one defines the component pi
of “Asia” are matters of time and vantage po.
‘The terms used here may be disputed, but if i
understood that they represent concepts that hz
always been malleable. tolerance will prevail.
Pacific Asia
Diversity — geographic, cultural and politic
— is the overriding reality of the area we will c
Pacific Asia, but the accompanying reality is o
of interaction and mutual influence that makes
regional construct increasingly relevant and us
ful. Today more than ever, one is challenged *
discern both the general and the particular whe
discussing trends in Pacific Asia.
‘This region excludes much that is traditional
embraced within the term “Asis.” Omitted. fc
example, arc “South Asia” (India, Pakistar
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka) and th
countries of “Southwest Asia” noted above
Although Pacific Asia historically has had signi:
icant levels of interaction with these regions, i
most recent cultural and economic orientation
have been toward the Pacific littoral. Pacific Asi
comprises Fast Asia and Southeast Asia, tw
major sociogeographical subsets (along with Oce
ania, North America, and South America) in th
overarching concept of a Pacific Basin.”
A natural division can be made within thi
latter realm between the Western Pacific, on th:
one hand, and North America on the other. In spi
of their being geologically connected in the north
the two halves of the region have develope:
throughout their histories in fundamentally differ
ent ways. Only in the past century did they begir
to converge significantly, éach driven by the
Era) will be used in this text, replacing BC and AE
Introduction + 3 necessities of modern commerce. Previously, for
‘Western Pacific societies, the Indian Ocean and
the Silk Road of Inner Asia were the avenues of
distant commerce. America was not part of the
“known world” until the late fifteenth century.?
‘The physical barriers that have inhibited the
flow of people throughout the Asia-Pacific region
naturally form the boundaries around which Asian
societies and cultures have coalesced. They con-
tinue to shape our understanding of how the world
of the Pacific Basin is divided.
EAST ASIA
China and Inner Asia
‘The largest political unit of Asia has been and
remains China: Its combined population and phys-
ical domain have not been equaled by any other
Asian nation. Within its vast geography, stretching
into “Inner Asia,” are five components that make
the total picture somewhat easier to comprehend:
(etre consists of three great tiver
Si the Huanghe (Yellow River) ia the
north, the Yangzi in central China, and the Xi
(West River) in the South.
The first of these rivers, the Huonghe, served
as “the cradle of Chinese civilization” by sustain-
ing the earliest settlements thet would become
Chinese society around 3000 BCE. From there, in
the area of the Wei Ho valley or “Great Bend” of
the river, these settlements spread_both north and.
south toward the natural barriérs that were to
‘establish their relative isolation from more distant
lands. The Huanghe has been both bane and bless-
ing to China for many centuries, having flooded
so often with destructive results that it became
‘known as “China’s Sorrow.” The flooding even
led to a major change in the course of the river
uring the nineteenth century: Where previously
it flowed southward below Shandong province it
now flows north to the Gulf of Zhi Li. The possi-
bility of its flowing southward once again cannot
be ruled out.
‘The relatively coo! climate of North China
sustains bountiful harvests of millet and wheat in
itsriver valleys. The Yangzi River Basin in central
China is an area of even greater agricultural rich-
4 © Pacific Century
ness that supports rice and cotton-growing. The
great commercial cities of China — Shanghai,
Nanjing (Nanking), Wuhan (Hankou), and
Chongqing (Chungking) are on the Yangzi River.
By far the largest proportion of China’s popula-
tion resides in this region which comprises about
three-quarters of a million square miles.
The smallest of the three major river basins,
the Xijiang, is separated from northern and central
China by 2 mountain range known as the Nan
Shan. This semitropical southern area has been
physically distinct from the rest of China, a sepa-
ration that has contributed to its population's rep-
utation for being very independent-minded.
Minority groups are the norm here because the
Han Chinese only arrived in large numbers in the
twelfih century. The key city of Guangzhou (Can-
ton) and the colonies ef Macao and Hong Kong
served as important early points of contact with
the West. This region of China remains the source
of many Western impressions of the whole
country—___
Manchuria, an area in northeast China with a
broad plain bordered by two mountain ranges, has
attracted a massive and relatively recent inflow of
Chinese from the south. Prior to‘the twentieth
century, Manchuria was the private domain of the
Manchv conquerors of China and therefore was
closed to immigration by ordinary Chinese. Its
immense natural resource endowments, combit
ing soybean and wheat croplands with great for-
ests and mineral deposits, have made itan obvious
strategic-economic asset and the object of bloody
contests among imperial powers in the late nine-
teenth and early twentieth centuries.
~~ Mongolia is now only partially claimed by
China. The present-day People’s Mongolian
Republic consists of what was once called “Outer
Mongolia.” It is bordered along the north by Rus-
sian Siberia (see below) and in this century has
been allied to Russia. Next to it, “Inner
Mongolia,” with a slightly larger population, grew
out of the traditional acceptance by the Mongols.
of Chinese suzerainty during the period when the
Manchus controlled the imperial throne in Beij-
ing. China has perpetuated its control in the area
by creating frontier provinces whose purpose, in
part, is to prevent movements toward indepen-
dence and unification among the Mongol people.
Another form of control has been the resettlement i
of Han Chinese into China's province, with the
result that today more Han Chinese than Mongo-
lians reside there. The region is bordered by the
Gobi Desert in the south and is generally pastoral,
supporting great herds of sheep, goats, cows,
camels, and horses.
Xinjiang is one of the least-known areas of
China and it defies ordinary Western notions of
what China is like. Sometimes known as Chinese
‘Turkestan, the Xinjiang region is populated by
traditionally nomadic, Turkic-speaking Uigurs,
most of whom are Moslems. The extreme remote-
ness of the area, combined with its harsh desert
climate, has prevented serious exploitation of
what may.be extensive mineral resources.
Boers to the south of Xinjiang amid a vast
watershed of mountain ranges. The great river
systems of both India and China flow from the
deep valleys of this region, making it in popular
reference the “Roof of the World.” Over the cen-
turies, China has claimed the right to control Tibet,
but not until the relatively recent Manchu (or
Qing) Dynasty was a close association established
and then only by force. For a period in the early
twentieth century Tibet became independent of
China vntil the latter reasserted control in 1950.
The inhabitants of Tibet are of Mongolian origin.
Their political and religious iife is centered
around a Lamaist and Buddhist faith for which the
focus is a spiritual leader, the Dalai Laina, and his
great monastery palace at Lhasa, the Potala.
The island of ‘faiwan, with a land area of
approximately 36, f lies off the southern
shores of China. Its mountainous terrain leaves
only a quarter of the land available for intensive
agriculture. The climate is subtropical. China
asserted its official control over Taiwan during the
Qing Dynasty. Since 1949, however, Taiwan's
teaders have defied conirol from the mainland,
treating the island as a separate economic and
political entity.
Korea, Japan, and East Siberia
size of the state of Idaho. Beyond a range of high
mountains in the north it is connected to the Asian
landmass by the Manchurian plain. Surrounded
by the Yellow Sea to the west and the Sea of Japan
to the east, it forms a natural “landbridge” ;
from the Japan Islands which lie to the south
accident of geography has made Korea a «
road of foreign invasion from both Chin:
Japan. Even so, passage across Korea has 1
been easy: Its terrain is mountainous and on
percent of the peninsula is available for ag:
tural production.
In spite of Korea’s proximity to Chine
Japan, its people do not trace their ethnic or
to either country. The ancestors of present
Koreans came in successive migratory w.
from Siberia, Inner Mongolia and Manchuri
form, over time, a very homogenous ethnic gr:
‘The lenguageis Altaic, thats, related to Manc:
ian and Mongolian tongues, and except for
rowed terms it has no relationship to Chines.
Japanese.
pan jes off the Asian continent nexi
‘Korca end comprises four prim
islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku,
Kyashu. Its climate, dominated by the monsoc
is complicated by the surrounding ocean and
Proximity to the Asian landmass. Winters ale
the coast of the Japan Sea are snowy and mod
ate, for example, while along thé Pacific seabos
they are cold and dry. The Japanese islands «
pooriy endowed with natural resources but t
oceans that surround them make Japan one of t
major fishing nations of the world.
The islands are subject to earthquakes
cccasional volcanic activity, so the populati
concentrates in lowland areas. The land must su,
port the seventh highest population on earth, b
only 15 percent of the area is cultivable. Thus, tt
appropriate uses of land, in what has become
highly industrialized society, generate ongoin
controversy.
‘With the exception of the Ainu, a small min
ity ethnic group, and several hundred thousan
immigrant Koreans, the Japanese population he
remained remarkably homogeneous over the cer
turies. in edlinolinguistic terms Japan is 99 percen
Japanese? =p. 7
The.name “Siberia” evokes images of vac
stretches of tundra and isolated villages. In fact
there is no unitary territory officially designate:
by that name. Rathér, Siberia refers to a regio
encompassing all lands within modem Russi
east of the Ural Mountains. The most significan
Introduction * 5 portions of this region for our purposes are
“Eastern Siberia” and the “Russian Far East.”
The former comprises the region east of Lake
Baikal and north of China and Mongolia, includ-
ing its major cities Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk. The
Russian Far Fast consists primarily of the regions
bordering the Pacific Ocean. Its major cities are
Khabarovsk, Yakutsk: and Vladivostok. These two
regions combined cover an area more than
10,000,000 km, yet the population, made up
mostly of immigrants from the “European” areas of
Russia, numbers litte more than fourteen million.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Mainland Southeast Asia
‘A major transition: occurs when we move
below south China into an area that is gradually
losing its colonial-era label, “Indochina.” For
many centuries, the eastern portion of mainland
Southeast Asia, principally Vietnam, fell under
the nominal suzerainty of China, and the cultural
attributes from that influenge are still evident.
Within the mainland region lie the modem staies”
of Laos, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Cambodia
(Kampuchea), and Vietnam.
‘This mainland region is divided geographi-
cally into three parts according to the north-south
mountain systems that ertierge from the highlands
of South China. To the west of a mountain chain
sunning down through the Malay Peninsula lies
Burma, The central, lower area is Thailand and
‘Cambodia. Laos and Vietnam are demarcated by
the Annam Mountains which parallel the coast of
the South China Sea. The westem sections of
mainland Southeast Asia are also mountainous,
particularly Laos, Similarly, Burma is hemmed in
by mountains on three sides which feed its triple
river system: the Irrawaddy, Chindwin, and
Sittang.
Cambodia and the southern area of. Vietnam
enjoy a thriving agriculture, mainly rice cultiva-
tion, on the great plain of the Mekong River
Delta. In Burma, the Irrawaddy Delta also pro-
duces abundant rice. Thailand's main area of
agricultural productién, a central plain drained by
the Chao Phraya River, contains both its present,
6 + Pacific Century
7
capital. Bangkok. and its former capital, Ayuth
In Vietnam, the physical geography mirzors
polarized political geography: the sout!
Mekong River Delta matches the Songkoi (R
River) delta in the north but is twice its size. T
two are linked by a long backbone of mountai
and, parallel to it, a coastal lowland regio
Northern Vietnam is much more rugged than
south.
~- Southeast Asia's numerous ethnic groups a:
distributed in complex patterns. They hav
emerged from two sources: first, southwar
migrations over many centuries under pressur
from the southern expansion of the Han Chinese
and second, the importation of laborers from
India and China during the period of Europear
colonization. There are broadly shared linguistic
traditions in mainland Southeast Asia tha:
include ‘the Tai speaking peoples. The mosi
widely-shared religious belief of the mainland
area is Buddhism, although there are numerous
exceptions. 7
Island Southeast Asi
Geologically, the mainland of Asia juts further
to the southeast than is apparent on most ‘maps.
Nearly ail the great islands of Southeast Asia stand
‘on the continental shelf of Asia known as the
Sunda Shelf, covered by relatively shallow sea in
the Malacca Straight, the Java Sea, and the sout
em part of the South China Sea. The Sunda Shel?
abuts the Sahu! Shelf to the south and their prox-
imity in previous epochs has caused an upthrust-
ing of mountain ranges alongside deep oceans,
particularly near Indonesia. Much of the region is
still volcanic, forming part of the geological “ring
of fire” that emerges at key points elsewhere
around the Pacific Rim.
In this realm lie the large nations of Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, and the much smaller
states of Si
ngepore and Brunei. Ciimaticaliy,
most of the region is maritime equatorial, mean-
ing that both temperatures and rainfall are con-
sistently high. In this “watery world” of ocean
and rain, a generally dense vegetation ranges
from lowland swamps near the oceans to great
equatorial forests covering the higher altitudes.
‘The ratio of soils fitted for intensive agriculture is relatively limited in comparison with the over-
all land area. Mineral resources, particularly oil
in Indonesia and tin in Malaysia, have been main-
stays of those economies. The Philippines is a
strongly agriculttiral region with most production
(especially rice) occurring on the island of
Luzon. Population densities in Ysland Southeast
Asia vary: Certain islands in both Indonesia and
the Philippines (i e., Java and Luzon) are so hea’
ily populated that they are reaching crisis dens:
ties while in Malaysia officials are pondering
ways to incréase the population growth of north-
em Borneo.
‘The underlying ethnicity of Indonesia, Malay-
sia, and the Philippines is “Malay”’ with an admix~
-ture of Chinesé and indigenous tribal groups. A
highly fragmented geography in the region, par-
ticularly in Indonesia, which embraces thousands
of islands, has contributed to this complexity.
Indonesia’s population speaks at least 250 lan-
guages. not counting the many local tongues in its
far eastern portion of Irian Jaya. Religious beliefs
are an especially important factor in social identi-
ties. Much of maritime Southeast Asia outside the
Philippines professes loyalty to Islam, eve:
though the older animistic religions continue in
Some areas and provide a significant tinderpinning
to the Islamic faith. By contrast, the majority of
Filipinos are Catholics. The major exception is the
Muslim enclave in the southern and southwestern
peripheries of the archipelago facing Malaysia,
particularly on the island of Mindinao.
OCEANIA
‘The most geographically diverse area
Pacific Basin is Oceania, inclusive of Aus:
New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. The ér
pologist Douglas L. Oliver summarized the
sity at the beginning of his classic survey:
Ten thousand islands lie scattered over
Face of Oceania, ranging from tiny atoll isl.
barely visible above pounding surf to con
nental Australia, three million square mil
large. Every conceivable kind of physical se
ting is to be found. Almost within sight of ti
snow fields which cap New Guinea's centr.
mountains are sweltering equatorial swamp.
And the iraveler need not voyage fr
Australia’s desert to rain-soaked Hawaii t
compare climatic extremes: he can find nearl
as great contrast on singie islands.*
‘The varied and expansive arez of Oceanis
embraced within a single concept that deriy
from origins in remote geological time and fro
the animal, plant, and human populations th
adapted in it much later. Situated on the Sunc
Shelf, maritime Southeast Asia extends dow
almost to Australia. There it encounter
“Oceania’s western moat” —a deep ocean ri
that has been an ancient barrier to the passage
animal and plant life. Beyond lies the Sahul She:
containing Australia and the great continent:
high island of Papua New Guinea. Islands far of
to the south and east are either remnants of ancien
continents (such as New Zealand) or voleanoe:
whose crests remained above the ocean (such a:
Hawaii and Tahiti) or have been eroded down to
sea-level coral outcrops around an ancient crater
rim (such as Truk in the Caroline Islands and
‘Kwajelein in the Marshalls). Australia and Ocea-
nia were among the last major world regions to be
inhabited by humans.
NORTH AMERICA.
‘The eastern seaboard of North America has
interacted significantly with the Pacific Basin
from the nineteenth century on, but now the most
Introduction + 7 intensive interaction is in the American West
(including western Canada, Mexico, and the
United States). What follows is 2 sketch of the
important and sometimes overlooked geographic
features that have contributed to America’s West
Coast settlement patterns and intensifying inter-
change with Asia.
‘The Pacific coast of North America “faces”
the rest of the Basin and is connected to it geolog-
ically. Two main “fold lines” cross over from Asia:
one moving through the Aleutian Islands and the
other coming from the Bering Strait in the heights
of Northeast Asia. The first, the Aleutian fold,
begins at the Alaska Mountains where it follows
the curve of the Gulf of Alaska, then descends
along the coast to Vancouver in the course of
which it is broken by the sea into a fringe of
islands. Another line of the Aleutian fold becomes
ie Coast Range, the Cascade Range, and the
Sierras to form the western rim of a great plateau
area. The second great fold descends much further
to the east until it forms the easter rim of the great
plateau which is about eight hundred miles wide
near San Francisco. This tableland tilts toward the
Pacific, so that its rivers, breaking through the
mountains, flow down to the sea.
‘The lowlands of the American Pacific coast
run from Vancouver to the Gulf of California in
an almost continuous valley lying between the
‘ocean and the mountains of the great plateau. The
three major sections are the Fraser-Columbia-
‘Willamette valleys in the north, the Sacramento-
San Joaquin valleys in the center —both rich
agricultural areas — and the Gulf of Galifintia,
the head of the valley, now mostly drowned by the
and surrounded by extremely dry lowlands.
The high elevations of the great plateau are
traps for the moisture coming in from the Pacific.
Falling mainly as snow in the mountains, it piles
up and then melts during the summer when the dry
Jands of California most need the water. Similar
inward movement of moist air along the seaward
slopes north of 40 degrees latitude cr:
almost constant rainfall that nourishes the vast
forest reserves of North América.
‘These natural endowments have greatly influ-
enced early American commerce with the Pacific
Basin, The first great attraction for settlement was
gold. Then, a more diverse economy, attractive
climate, and later a thriving culture have drawn
8 + Pacific Century
j
millions to the American Pacific shore. Signifi-
cant numbers of this still-growing immigrant pop-
ulation have roots that stretch. like the land itself,
to Asia.
CONTINENT AND OCEAN:
THE TWO FRONTIERS
Concepts of what is “Asia” have changed over
time, with a fundamental shift of perspective —
the “Pacific Basin” perspective — having begun
as the West approached Asia from the New Wortd.
Yet an equally fundamental shift occurred in
China. The nature of the change can be best visu-
alized by holding up a globe and positioning its
center at Beijing, then repositioning the globe to
focus on an early maritime center such as Manile.
The two worlds of Pacific Asia become readily
apparent. The first is a world dominated by the
continental land mass of Asia; the second by the
‘ocean.
Gver geological time, the Asian continent has
been the predominant infiuence on the sea around
it, Even though only a small part of thé mainland
drains into the Pacific,’ one finds rocks, plants,
animals, and inhabitants far out into the ocean that
are Asiatic in character and origin. The Pacific
also sends powerful currents and winds toward the
continent that profoundly affect its iife. These two
dimensions provide a convenient analogy for the
shift of perspective and ‘new interaction that
occurred between Asia’s land- and ocean-cen-
tered worlds.
For many centuries, the rich treasures and
innovations of China rippled outward along the
maritime trade routes through Southeast Asia to
India and beyond while a different flow with
relatively lesser impact on China moved in the
opposite direction. Then, in the sixteenth century,
sea-bome Europeans began to intrude upon the
exes of Pacific Asia. Eventually,
they exerted unprecedented military and eco-
nomi pressures on China. The fabled overland
Silk Route lost its primacy for bringing distant
Enropean influences. Central Asia ceased to be
the main source of foreign threats. Just as the
warming ocean in the summer causes the winds to
shift, sending them rushing toward the continent, so did the great Pacific carry the gusts of change
toward China and East Asia.
Until the nineteenth century, China dominated
the region with its continental-centered world
view. The Great Wall symbolized this overriding
concer with threats, new influences, and oppor-
tunities emanating from within the Asian main-
land where, froma very early time, the inhabite
of fertile river valleys competed with one anot
and with intruding nomadic tribes from the step
When at last this vision began to shift towan
recognition that the future lay at the ocean’s ed:
it symbolized a major turning point in Pacif
Asian history.
Introduction * 9 NOTES
Jonathan D. Spence, The Search for Modern
China (New York: Norton, 1990), p. xx.
After the very early Spanish influence from
the New World had diminished, only the
United States in the Western Hemisphere
possessed population. resources, and military
power on a scale large enough to exert a
major influence on the course of Pacific
Basin history. Latin American and Canadian
interaction with the Pacific have been signif
icant, but like the South Pacific region, they
are not discussed in detail in order to contain
a topic that is already of unwieldy propor-
tions.
Asians did of course cross the Bering land
bridge in the late Pleistocene Epoch to begin
populating the Americas around thirty thou-
sand years ago.
10 * Pacific Century
4. Douglas L. Oliver, The Pacific Islands (Ca
bridge. MA: The President and Fellows
Harvard College, Natural History Libaras
1951. 1961), p. 3.
5. The land area that drains into the Paci
Basin is approximately one-fourth the size
the area drained by the Atlantic Ocean ev:
though the Pacific’s volume is twice as larg
With a globe, it is almost startling to look
the Pacific head-on, for it covers a third of tt
planet's surface. Its area is greater than th:
of alll the land above sea level and, as suci
constitutes a major barrier even in an era c
advanced modes of communication an
transportation. UNIDAD 14.
Lectura 2. Uscanga, Carlos; Regionalismos y Mecanismos de Cooperacién
Regional en la Cuenca de! Pacifico. UNAM, FCPyS, 2000, pp. 1-16 (Nota: La
lectura completa se empleara para la Unidad 7). 1. Ex Pacirico:
DIVERSIDAD Y CONTRADICCION
1.1 Cuenca del Pacific
ileances conceptuales
[Cuenca del Pacifico, es menester superar su pérspectiva
‘geografica para entenderla como una representacién fisico-espa-;
cial que alberga una serie de rolaciones econémicas, politica
sociales y culturales, histéricamente cambiantes y en la’ que’
interactan elementos, procesos y tendencias bajo una.
compleja y contradictoria."
4s ali do as indtinicionostefminliicas dl onepito do |
| La literatura anglosajona ha utiizado una serie de conceptos |
| para identiicar en forma parcial y en términos generales a la re |
{i6n, mismos que se han utilizado en su traduccién al‘ espaol. {
Entre los principales encontramos: S
a) Lejano 0 Extremo Oriente. De acuerdo con Lothar Krauth, este"
concepto refleja un arraigo colonialista en el que implicitamety- {i
te se ubica a Europa como el epicentro del mundo y se const
\uye el punto inicial para definir geogréficament la ubicacish
de regiones dentro del universo no europeo? 4 a
b) Este de Asia. Existe una tendencia a expandir las déinarcacid:
res geograficas del Este asidtico a lo que éstictaimente seria?
o:
"Asif Dirk, What is in a Rim? Critical Perspective on the Pacitic Region idea,
Westview Press, 1999, p. 4
* Lothar Knauth, L madornad do Jagd, UNA, 1980, p . " 14 Carlus Uscanga
«scent. Eeogondattoeri sovec-
tres orl peo uefa rns
tt te as ua tag peri te
CI fan) como al Sudeste de Asi 5 por
Inovei alan, ala, Sas isco, Camboye,
mania, Brunei Darussalam, flips y Vea).
¢) Cuenc: if
) oe Pacifico. Cuando se inicigron las propuestas para el
ec er
pests "acific Basin. En México y América Latina se utiliz6
enter is rtonsa durante los arog Schif 1concopo plane
/arios | 50 der a
ae tet ieee tea ‘su.Uso dentro del ambiente
eS
= ion
trali eva Zelanda), asi como a Estados Ur :
scrim ce a
tog ef Ee
cottage asc ocr
Cuando ot interés ata
int latinoamericano se orienté
ction a buscar olin
ari in nearness corprin err so oui
jc grea paerenca de han tata la
Gils oi ahd ere exten one certo dt cso
Pasco en te gba a amc acti ro 2
ples contr 2 lon er Eta Set asians,
Paefico Surya plana conten amecana desde Est
aoe death Ja Tierra de Fuego. El ingreso de paises ean
a sxico a los foros de discusi6
cn. sn mlteraes
lice 1a dejado ahora en el olvido la justificacién geo ova
lar su ingreso a los mismos. an
En este séntido, e: ic
anes stn on cnn ents op
risapte: en por lugar, bajo una vin global stat
einai ymecanoox de copeacsnenta cure de Parco 8
un espacio de interaccién econémica, politica, sociocultural ©
isteriea entre todos fos pases con Iitoral en Océano Paci
So. Estos tipos de conectividad son dinamicos ¥ cambiantes
historieamento, en ellos se entretejen complelas redes de con-
rite subordinacion, ast como de esiabiidad, aenare lo y
‘cooperacién. En segundo lugar, bajo una connotacién mas es
pecifica, es preciso ubicar os procesos generados de lo que se
pmominaria la parte asistica de la Cuenca de Pacifico, cuyos
sieances concoptuales serian semejantes 2105 02 ‘Asia-Pacifico
ipaoifico asiatico. Es decir, en la rogién del Este ¥ ‘Sudeste de
«gia, asi como el Pacifico Sur. En tercor lugar de igual formaen
Asia Rpito tambign mas locaizado, se podrian refert 6 la parte
‘americana de fa Cuenca det Pacifico que incluirfa a. Canada,
aijados Unidos y México on América del Norte; 19s paises cen-
Fetmericanos y a Colombia, Ecuador, Perd y Chile on ‘Sudamé-
rica.
4) Asia Pactico 0 Pacitico asiatico. En forme frecuente estos t6r-
vamente como similares al de,Cuencd
‘minos son usados errénet
i pacifico, Esta situacién ha sido estimulada on gra parte
porelnacimiento en 1989 del arec. Bajo una perspectiva exclust
rronte geogratica, se exchila ala cuenca americans del Pa
‘igo. Una corriente de opinion apunta que é} uso de este'tér-
‘nino refleja una porspeativa econdmica, como Uh espacio'de
Intonelaciones comerciales yfinancieras que integra 2 24 miem-
ros de ese mecanismo.
— ~=—=—CSCS~—érétrtrL
agenerado por el uso de perspectvas tmiades; las que se
aera ur goo olemento para fa dofnicion de fa rage,
spire resonstu una concopcién dela Cuenca do! Pacifico como:
ceigapacio material y como un area do la actividad J 9 interacclon
raesang HeOO FT ula iapeae icf
tration através del entendiiento de las interacctre rhumanas
fon todas sus expresiones: en el émbito pollen, ‘econémico, 80- ti:
(or tosural etcetera), to que nos permitiia comprender mejo-
Wi, pA
* Bleonore Kafana
Kofman dnd Gillan Youngs, “troduction: Globalization - The Second
‘Wave", en Eleon ate Kote ings, Globalization Theory and Practice,
re Kofman and Gian Youngs, Gi
EA, Pinter Edtors, 1986, p. 1.
exonlsna ymaansmor de conperacon el enc el Paced ”
Los autores consideran como un nuevo desallo ¢ uso, det
consepto do giobaizacion una especie de segunes oleada de
Fensamionto, para separara dela aproximacén universal a otra
Se
MT pesar de que el de globalzacién os un proces, general, SUS
«pettus en cada subregi oinctuso en iter 6 tas. forma
Sr
cone eas rospuestas al mpulso globaizante, de f0vA Or".
serdn distintas. « »
por ejemplo, en América Latina la adopetén del mou Tere
Incr es coneecuoncia directa del agotarrto del moat de
remttveion do importaciones y de la posterior ons financiera
sees sufi a To larg do la cada de fos alos Soe Bajo la
see aig los oxgarismos financeros intemacionals, paises
ature de esnoe ce weron forzads a adopt un modelo se se
tia fuera realizando un proceso de beralzanicr
safalyfinanciera. Esta nueva estratoga, de acuerdo At Satya
re ey yak, estuvo caracteizeda por: 1) un gran énjasis © a
B atacign de variedados 10 raccionales, come prose no
eeficols; 2) procesos de manvtacturas ene} eect industrial: 3)
cron asimérica ene capital. tabalo, ona due 6) Pree
wo goza de una gran y veriginosa movildad #) Proce, de des-
Fegulacion econémica y prvatizacion de emproree publicas y 5)
(oo ea de las agencis fnanioras internacionales 126 C59
tree ntomacionaly local, y las élite de gobiemna®
impacto de fa globalizacion en America Latina $F ta aceierada
tberaizecién comercial y financiera fue un mecaneo de re8-
puesta para obtener mayores margenes competencia en fa
pucsion de capital extranjero y on la promocion de Suh exporta-
iones en los mereados internacionales. L& decision de México
Saya A Patinayak, "Lan American Potial ESOT, ata Crossroad: AN
rea en Saya A. Patnayak (ecto), Genel ‘Urbanization and the
tr toa Studes on Contemporary Latin America, £3 University Press
‘ot America, 1996, P-5 18 Carlos Uscanga
para la negociacién del Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del
Norte con Estados Unidos y Canada (TLcAN) y la posterioridea de
la expansién de este mecanismo hacia otros paises de América
Latina tuvieron un efecto directo en la renovacién de las viejas
ideas de regionalismo y en el establecimiento de acuerdos de co-
mercio subregionales y el fortalacimiento de los nexos bilaterales.
En’cambio, la experiencia de la regién del Asia-Pacifico es un
claro ejemplo de otros mecanismos de Fespuesta a las tenden-
clas dindmicas de la globalizacién econémica. Seguin Richard Le
Heron y Sam Ock Park:
durante © periodo de la posquerra hasta los afios 80, los paises,
asidticas.ce la Cuenca, del Pacifico estuvioron experimentando
difcutades en ta cooperacién econdmica debido a las barreras,
politicas v las diferencias en los ‘sistemas écondmicos y
régulatonigs: No obstants,réctentemento ha habido un nivel consi-
erable de vodperacion econémica transtronteriza y el desarrollo
446 espacies indusriales en el drea de la Cuenca Asiatica del Pa-
cificg 1 Et ineremento reciente de volimenes comerciales y de
inversion porlas Nueva Economias Industializadas de Asia puede
ser visto como résultado de la reestructuracién para la sobrevi-
venci debit a lés Cambios de la poltca internacional y su com
cPelltvidad en la competencia global, reestructurando no sélo
{ entranstorsaciones sectoriales regionales dela industia pero. |
| mas bien susreyando os cambios de a crgnizacén ye tocolo
gia de la prc duccién, de las relaciones de trabajo, y también las.)
Uretaciones ers las émoresas.
Por ultimo, vale la pena retomar el planteamiento de Stuart
Harris en torno a las dos fuerzas opositoras dentro de la globali-
zacién:
Por un lado, incrementa las presiones intemas hacia fos gobler-
‘nos para ver en el regionalismo a un escudo contra la competen-
cia, Proponentes de tal proteccionismo usualmente argumentan
“Richard Le Hetin y Sam Ock Park, “Geografes of Globalization’ en ebard
Le Heron y Sam Ock Pack, The Asian Pacific Rim and Globalization, Nueva Zelanda,
Avery Edors, 1995, p. 8
rnismo en fa regi
gecooperctonenta Cuenca del Pacico 19
Regionalismo y mecanismos dt
cond pare ganar 1900 Y
wo una mei an as woo Para ACTS Me
¢ yetitivos, pero el tiempo apropiado para 2 genta 8
competves Per tea pat, ta gbalzcin dessa
parece 5 oques cerrado porque IMPOne ).
No es casualidad que su fundacién siguiera inmediatamente
en el tiempo a Ia revolucién de 1911, que pretendi6 proclamar,
con su bandeta de cinco colores, Ia convivencia con Jos grupos
G1nicos no chinos: manchées, ‘mongoles, tibetanos y musul-
‘anes.
En un decenio, la asociacién para el progreso tenia ya 3,000
grupos locales en toda China y publicaba revistas. A partir de
257 1915, aparecié en Yiinnan una revista mensual islimica. En
tado caso, los musulmanes chinos que estudiaban en Japén y
er. la India difundieron corrientes de corte modemista. Se crea-
ron nuevas escuelas primatias, utilizando, entre otros, maestros
turcos. El modemnista egipcio Muhammad ‘Abduh fue tradu-
ido al chino. Se intentaba estudiar el Corén incluso fuera de
a mezquita, tras un innegable rechazo, de carécter doctrinario,
hacia las. traducciones del mismo. Asf aparecié la primera tra
duccién del Corn (obta del no musulmén Weng-ch'ing) en 1932,
que posibilit6 el acceso al Islam de los intelectuales chinos, y 1a
opinién pablica islamica buscaba contactos con el nacionalismo
chino,
En Ia época republicana, los musulmanes més eminentes se
opusieron a la idea de que constitufan un grupo especial étnico
10 chino, y subtayaron que el apelativo «Hui» (de origen eti-
molgico controvertido) tenia catécter meramente confesional.
A pesar de ello, ciertos nombres familiares (Ma, Ha, Sa, Tie’h)
se utilizaron solamente por musulmenes. Un ejemplo lo cons-
tituye el general Ma Hungpin, Este prohibié formalmente los
‘mattimonios entre musulmanes y chinos, @ los cuales se opo-
fan las tradiciones de Jos primeros. Ma Hungpin fue jefe
del territorio del Noroeste y, durante muchos afios, jefe del
estado mayor. Durante la guerra del 1937 al 1945, algunos
‘mustlmanes fotmaton parte del Consejo de Estado de Chiang
Kai-chek, Muchos musulmanes, aconsejados por las organizacio-
nies chino¥islimicas, fueron, durante 1a guerra y en Ia época
inmediata de posguerra, representantes diplomiticos y_consu-
lates de China en el Oriente Préximo, sin que pudiera com-
probarse sacrificio alguno de los intereses chinos a Ja solidaridad
islémica internacional. Un «Comité chinoislémico para el bien-
estar del Estado» hizo propaganda en pro de la solidaridad
‘frente a Ja invasién japonesa. Con ella, compitié una Liga de
todos los Chinos musulmanes», que desplegé gran actividad en
cl intercambio de estudiantes con los estados aliados. Sus ten-
dencias caracterfsticas fueron Ia exaltacién del patriotismo, de la
ayuda mutva, de las reformas sociales, asf como un intento
racionalista de concotdar la teologia con las ciencias naturales.
‘La contribucién a la reforma educativa modema fue cuanti-
tativamente escasa. En 1936 s6lo existian en China once escue-
las superiores islémicas. En el perfodo precomunista existié un
colegio islémico en la’ mezquita de Chungking (desde 1945).
Con el fin de evitar a sus hijos Ia obligatoria frecuentacién de
Jas escuclas, en las que desde 1912 el chino eta el Gnico len-
auaje utiizado en las clases, los musulmanes chinos recutrieron
muchas veces a la sustitucién por otros idiomas. De este modo,
| minoria islimica sigui6 sin integrarse por entero en la so-
258
ciedad china en Ja época precomunista. Las tendencias demo:
edad it uperon slo con. detasadaTentitad a sue lo
musulmanes se alejasen de las concentraciones compactas en que
vivian, Las més importantes minotias islémicas se encuentran
en Yunnan, Shensi, Kansu, Hopei, Honan, Shantung y Ssuch'uan,
en el orden citado. Al norte y al oeste de Kansu, Jos musul-
imanes son sayoria. El problema principal de los musulmenes
chinos sigue siendo Ia simbiosis o integracién en el ambiente
chino que les rode
nt, GlAMPA
Es probable que ya en época preislimica arribaran a puertos
de habla malaya comerciantes drabes, de camino hacia los puer-
ae abl al eine Los mulmanes ‘abe. procedentes de
Jos puertos del sur de China pudieron haber difundido el
Islam en las costas malayas ya antes de que Megara allf det
sur de la India. Asf, parece que el comerciante P’u Lu-hsieh,
que visits Borneo en el afio 977 procedente de China, era
musulmén (Abii ‘Ali o Abii Lais?). El Estado de habla malaya
més cercano a China era el de Champa, hinduizado desde el
siglo m d. C. y situado en Ia costa del actual VietNam central
(véase Historia Universal Siglo XXT, vol. 18, Asia sudoriental,
pp. 96-112). Antes de que VietNam se sepatara de China ened
Fe ee aeiie Gul hubierm surgido’ ya comunidades. mo-
See cupo ongen cotarla en for arentamfentos
islimicos de los puertos del sur de art En cotauies
limi oe esses ferris drbes (cn casters cific)
Sea Champa datables en 20254059 y 1039. Una
de sus formulaciones tiene resonancias Si*ies. Una tradicién (apé-
tifa) del Cham islémico atribuye a ‘Ali, yerno de Mahoma, su
ce oi aes andcign su primer aoberano foe PO
Ovlah (el sefior Allah), al parecer entre 1000 y 1036, hasta
Sr Gs, Sree un vif de pxgrincién a Us Mesa Pro
bablemente se trataba de un musulmén Arabe, sino malayo.
Sin embargo, no se deduce de las inscripciones relativas a los
reyes, indias hasta le tltima época, que Cham hubiera sido
verdaderamente islamizado antes de ser sometido a VietNam
(1471), Con arreglo a esto, su islamizacién podria haberse pro-
ducido a partir de Malaca o de Sumatra. En Malaca existia
‘una colonia cham hacia el aiio 1511. Los Cham estén estrecha-
mente emparentados, desde un punto de vista lingiiistico, con
Jos habitantes de Atjeh (Sumatra noroccidental). Entre ellos
encontré refugio y trono un principe cham después de 1471
259 Segiin una tradicién javanesa, una princesa cham introdujo
hacia 1450 el Islam en Java.
Después de la catéstrofe de 1471, Ia élite de Champa emigrs
a Camboya. La mayot parte de la poblacién superviviente 1a
siguié, al parecer. Otros, sin embargo, sc refugiaron en el
enclave de Annam, préximo a la costa, donde exploradores
franceses los encontraron sumidos en la miseria. Los Cham
de Camboya (unos 55.000) son musulmanes. De los Cham de
VietNam del Sur (45.0002) s6lo son musulmanes una minoria
Bans Asalam, ahijos del Islam»); la mayorfa (Kaphir) venera
atin dioses hindies. Ciettamente, los Bani Asalam honran al lado
de AM(a deidades hindies y prohindtes, tales como Siva (Pa
Yang Amé) y Kali, Por otra parte, Ald (PS Ovlah) pertenece al
pantedn del Cham "
1 cielo para aniguilat a los principes malayos si éstos prose- {""
guian ejerciendo su tiranfe. Dios habla recompensado la inicia. <<
tiva y la reflexién humanas con el barco de vapor: asi opiné
“Abdullah cuando contempls este invento en 1841. La posil
dad de viajar en barco de vapor convirtié a Singapur en la
puerta de Malasia hacia el mundo islimico y desde 1884.en la
‘Meca se imprimieron publicaciones también en malayo con ca
ractetes arabes. Singapur sustituyd a Atjch como nuevo centro
cultural del mundo malayo. Precisamente la convivencia de ele-
‘mentos locales malayos ¢ indonesios, desde la fundacién de
la ciudad en 1819, hizo concebible Ia unidad basada en la co-
munidad lingiifstica malaya y en el Islam, Desde el siglo xvir
descendientes del Profeta procedentes de Hadramaut, en el sur
de Arabia, y emigrados 2 Malasia subrayaron la naturaleza del
Islam. Como intermediarios y encargados de los peregrinos en
viaje a Ia Meca, alcanzaron, mediante sus cuantiasos beneficios
y el producto de Ia beneficencia, una situacién privilegiada
entre los musulmanes de Singapur, que se habfan convertido
en minorfa, también desde el punto de vista organizativo, hu.
cia 1900.
EI petiddico alTmiim, que apatecié en Singapur entre los
afos 1906 y 1908, atacé las peculiaridades malayas del Islam. |
Al-Iniém defend{a’ un modernismo islimico, dentro del espi-
rita de la escuela cairota de al-Manir. Sus redactores eran el
jeque Muhammad Tahir ibn Yalaluddin, de Sumatra (Minang-
abau), que se opuso a la prohibicidn canénica de prestar di-
265 500 km.
Za Sitos xv y xv
266
La difusién del islemismo en Asia sudoriental
Fig. 2
nto a interés, y Sayyid Sayj ibn Ahmad al-Hadi (1867-1934),
frabe de Penang, discipalo del modernista egipcio Mubatmand
“Abduh _y admirador del militante panislamista Yamal al-Din
-Afgini, AlHTadi abog6 por 1a emancipacién de las mujeres
malayas (que por ejemplo en Malaca, todavia dos generaciones
antes, no podfan, con arreglo a la decencia, ni mudarse de casa
ni viajar) y comenz6 a publicar en 1926 el drgano modemista
alywin, traduciendo muchos escritos del arabe al malayo en
sus paginas.
Sin embargo, entte 1918 y 1937, la pretensién de represen-
tar a la minotfa malaya de Singapur pasé de los malayos de
educacién étabe a los malayos de educacién inglesa. Con ello,
el modernismo islimico perdid importancia: Ja metrdpoli china
dde Singaptir se seculari26, siguiendo un desarrollo propio, visi-
blemente, distinto del de’ Malasia. Y en los principados de 1a
peninsula el deseo de reinterpretar Ja tradicién islimica para
defenderls de Ia ingerencia a factores no islimicos no fue de-
masiado agudo. El protectotado briténico no. tropez con nin-
guna resistencia sistemstica ni se vio precisado a desconfiat
del Islam en Malasia, Precisamente porque las facultades de de-
cisién de sus sultanes se limiteban a la religidn y a las cos
tumbres, tos. se concentraron en los asuntos islimicos. Los
departamentos religiosos (religious departments) islamizaron
también costumbres sincréticés en un proceso de sistematizacién
orientado hacia una ortodoxia purists, Prohibieron docttinas y
escritos modemnistas, sospechando de su , se conserva ain una doctrine
‘gnéstica radical «basada en Ia solidatidad y Ia cooperacién como
fuerza integradora», expulsada de Johore, Negri Sembilan y
Pahang, cuyos partidarios en Ja peninsula han sido enérgica-
‘mente perseguides por las autoridades religiosas de los Estados
de la federacién. Muchos sospechosos han sido arrestados y se
cconocen numerosas, abjuraciones, Sélo los iniciados conocen la
auténtica historia de Ia secta. Su fundador (conocido sélo bajo
el nombre de Sayyid ‘Ali) aparecié en Ia época cabtica del final
de Ja guerra. Segiin él, las palabras de Mahoma, con arreglo a
las cuales «quien se condce a si mismo, conoce’ al Sefior> sig-
nifican que Dios esté en cada uno de los hombres y que se
confunde con ef alma humana. Por ello no tendria objeto dii-
269 sitle oraciones. En contrapartida, la {Srmula de iniciacién «yo
no soy sino Ebs, en caso de set plenamente comprendida cxi-
mirfa de la ley canénica. Sayyid ‘AIT parece haber predicado
gue el Corin estaba superado —si no falsifieado— y que su
propia palabra era el auténtico Cordn, Como algunas, herejias
islimicas medievales, la suya ensefaba también que Maboma no
xa el dltimo profeta y que él —que se vestia como un antiguo
guerrero Atjch y se rodeaba de hombres portando antorchas—
; era el profeta que venia después de Mahoma, sino Ia encer-
nacién de Mahoma mismo. De hecho, en cada hombre se unirfan
el espfritu de Adan, procedente de Mahoma, y el cuerpo de
‘Mahoma, procedente'de Addn. El concepto canénico de comu-
nidad Jama’a era interpretado esotéricamente como la unién
de Adin y Eva, y se sostenia que las cinco oraciones diarias
debfan entenderse como cinco estadios de Ja unién sexual Sima.
AL parecer, comunidades enteras se han reunido para realizar
experiencias orgidsticas colectivas, teniéndose a los engendrados
a ellas por especialmente santos. Asf, pues, estas ideas, pro-
pias del tantrismo preislmico, © mejor dicho, del budismo vai-
raya, se conservan atin hoy en apartadas comarcas de Malasia,
conde apenas ha penetrado el Islam oficial.
Iv. INDONESIA
Si gencralmente cl islamismo se expresa en todos los ambitos
de Ia vida, en la mayor parte de Indonesia la conversién al
mismo no ha producido este resultado. La cultura de Indone-
sia esté menos integrada en el tefsmo islémico. que la cultura
de Jas regiones que forman el micleo del Islam. Las tradiciones
preislimicas actian en Indonesia con més fuerza que en dichas
comarcas, segiin el desarrollo preislémico de las distintas cultus
ras;_por ejemplo, en Java sobreviven con més intensidad que
en Sumatra. El elemento no islémico en Indonesia lama la
atencién més que el islémico, ya que en la época medieval de
florecimiento del Islam en el Préximo Oriente, Indonesia no
estaba atin islamizeda, lo que explica que no existan monumen-
tos grandiosos del apogeo cultural islimico. Por el contratio,
el islamismo ha determinado la atrofia de 1a arquitectura y Ia
escultura indojavanesas, si bien por otfa parte ha enriquecido
4a literatura indonesio-malaya con materiales drabes y persas AL
revés de lo que ha ocutrido en los paises clisicos det Islam, se
hhan seguido usando una serie de alfabetos preislimicos, es decir,
no érabes. El Islam leg a Indonesia, en primer lugar, de la
India: de la costa de Coromandel, Malabar, Gujatat y Bengala.
Desde Ia India meridional entraron el dogma de le escuela ju:
270
ridica aff y, gracias a las conexiones del Islam indio con
el persa, clementos ai'ies. Las peculiatidades locales més im-
pportantes estriban en los ragos animfstico-pantefstas que: fue-
ron asimilados en la cultura indobudista y luego en la islamica,
absorbiendo por su parte muchos elementos de grandes zeligio-
nes. De dichos rasgos proceden ciertas tendencias’ gnésticas que
conttibuyen con su sello a determinar el cardcter del Islam
indonesio: a islamizacién vino como una especie de «hinduize
cién renovada»; el conocimiento del camino que conduce a tx
salvacién vale més que. las obras; se aspira mas @ adquirir co-
nocimientos sobre Ja relacién con Dios que al complimiento de
os mandates divinos. Las técnicas. indobudistas de. expansiGn
de la personalidad para la fusién de la misma en la unidad total
de Dios prepararon el camino de la mistica islimica, lo mismo
que la cteencia animista en la dependencia del: hombre de- los
poderes superiores. En la popularidad- del ayuno islimico en
‘Tava nos encontramos de nuevo ante Ia técnica indojavanesa de
ia ascesis, del alejamiento del mundo, gue servia para liberar
las energfas necesarias para dominarlo. Y peregtinos indonesios,
‘que en el siglo xvit pretendian ser iniciados en Medina en la
orden sift Sattariyya, hubieron de ofr que querfan entrar en
cl Islam. esotérico antes, de conocer el Islam elemental.
Desde el aiio 1661 aproximadamente, discfpulos de Ahmad
(Qu8aéi de Medina difundieron estas érdenes derviches primero
en Sumatra y Jas Célebes y luego en Java y Malasia. Las érde-
res Qaditiyya y NagSbandiyya, «més ortodoxas», sparecieron
‘més tarde, Comunes a ellos son los cuatro estadios de inicia-
cidn, desde Ia observancia de las leyes candnicas hasta Ja gnosis
divina, Sin embargo, las principales iniciativas vinieron de Ios
sifies de La Meca y Medina antes de la época wahhabi. Desde
fas persecuciones de Ibn Sa'id, las Srdenes han perdido impor-
tancia, no sin antes haber conttibuido a la legitimaci6n islimica
del sincretismo. El Islam «ortodoxor de Arabia fue difundido
por inmigrantes de Hadramaut, especialmente en los siglos xvi
y xn&, Algunos de cellos, descendientes del Profeta, contrajeron
matrimonio en el seno de familias de principes-indonesios, fun-
dando dinastias en Sumatra y Borneo. Visto en su conjunto,
puede decirse que el Islam penetsd on Indonesia gracias a las
clases medias que practicaban el, comercio ultramarino —en las,
que atin hoy esté més fuertemente artaigado—, las cuales lo
transmitieron a las clases superiores y a las masas. populares.
La jislamizacién no represents (con excepcidn, en todo caso,
de la zona de las Molucas) reaccién alguna a las conquistas cris-
tianas, pues su influencia no era en un ptincipio Jo bastance
fuerte para ello. Por wltimo, precisamente en Indonesia oriental
yen las Filipinas, el Islam se hallaba sélidamente establecido
am a) Sumetra
Segin una ttadicién posterior, la islamizacién comenzé en
Atjeh ya hacia mediados del siglo xr. Se dice que en 1205
fue fundada una dinastia islimica por un tal Yahin Sah, que
avino de Occidente», se cas6 con una mujer del pals y ‘«con-
visti a muchos». Pero en 1292, Marco Polo, en el nordeste
de Sumatra, s6lo enconts6, en una regién «paganan, una ciudad
islamizada, Perlak, y ésta lo habia sido por obra de los comer-
antes extranjeros. Gracias a éstos, y a través de Jos. puertos
malayos cosmopolitizados y de las rutas comerciales, legs el
Islam a Indonesia. Sin embargo, precisamente en el noroeste
de Sumatra, Ia mistica sift se expresa en Ja insctipcién fune-
raria del primer sultin musulmén de Pasai (que puede datarse
ec 1297 6 1307): el mundo —dice— es mortal y no tiene es:
tabilidad alguna, como una casa hecha de telatafias. Se exhorta
4 os que cotten tras los bienes de este mundo a que se con-
tenten con lo necesario pata la meta subsistencia, ya que todo
el que viene a este mundo debe abandonatlo, Al'‘mismo Maho-
272
antes de Ja invasién europea: en la epoca de su expulsién de’
Espafia y Rusia, en los siglos xv y xvt, el Islam se extendié
través del mundo malayorindonesio con mayor rapidez que
cualquier religién en cualquier otra parte del mundo.
Ciertamente Ia jslamizacién de Indonesia no puede darse por
concluida ni siquiera hoy, pues acta en dos direcciones: con-
versidn de pueblos animistas y reforma de Jas instituciones so-
ciales de los pueblos de cultura superior. Porque en Indonesia
—como en otras comarcas fronterizas del Islam, tales como
por ejemplo Aftica del Norte y el Céucaso—, junto al derecho
canénico islimico, subsiste el derecho consuetudinario preislimi-
co (adat), Fuera del dmbito del derecho familiar prevalece este
‘iltimo, Incluso en ef dmbito del derecho familiar, la ley cand-
nica no ha conseguido imponerse plenamente, especialmente en
1 derecho sucesorio, ni siquiera en los circulos de los tedlogos.
‘También las précticas candnicas de divorcio, que como es sabido
reservan Ia iniciativa al varén, fueron modificadas en toda In-
donesia por el adat: en el contrato matrimonial, el hombre
debe declarar que en el caso de que no cumpla ciertas condi-
ciones se obliga a repudiar a la espose. Especialmente signifi-
cativos son los casos de simbiosis y conflictos entre el Islam
yy las estructuras familiares consuetudinarias en Sumatra, cuya
parte noroccidental es considerada el «péttico indonesio a La
Meca» y que, sin embargo, fue, al menos hasta 1945, baluarte
del adat,
ma se atribuye Ja profeeia de que Ja Samudra islimica (Pasai)
habria de ser convertida por una misién enviada por el jerife
de La Meca. Hacia 1345 el sultin de Samudta tenia a su lado
dos juristas persas, y propagé por Ja fuerza el Islam. El Islam
Tegé a Palembang (Sumatra oriental) s6lo hacia el afio. 1440,
difundiéndose allf muy lentamente, en tanto que la Sumatra
sudoriental fue convertida a partir de la Java occidental, a fine-
les del siglo xv. La principal potencia islémica de Sumatra fue,
a partir de 1520, Achin, heredera de Samudra/Pasai y de Ma-
Jaca, cuya conquista por los portugueses en 1511 dispersé a los
fugitivos musulmanes por los puertos de Indonesia. En 1539 (?)
Atjch recibié ayuda militar turca como aliada en la guerra de
religién y en la lucha contra Portugal por la ruta de las espe-
En tiempo del sultén Iskandat Muda (1608-1637), Atich
aleanzé su apogeo econémico-militar como potencia maritima
isldmica, asi como un considerable esplendor de su filosofia
religiosa.
La creacién intelectual de Jos pensadores malayos recibié
—por mediacién de Ahmad Quissi, de Medina— el estimulo
del gnéstico panteista arabe Ibn al‘Arabi (1165-1240), que
concebfa el mundo, al modo neoplaténico, como una emans-
cién de la divinided, de modo que la existencia (wujtd) de
todo lo creado participaba de la esencia del creador. De este
modo describié el pensador de Sumatra Hamza Pangiti
(m. 16082), repetidamente citado en el mundo malayo basta
Ja €poca moderna, la «revelacién del mistetio de la manifesta:
cin divina». En A se inspiré el jeque Sams alDin de Pasai,
‘que fue la principal autoridad en el periodo de 1600-1630. La
cobra principal de éste trata de la aparicién del ereador en la
‘multitud de las ctiaturas y de la reunificacién de éstas en
Ja unidad total con Dios. De este modo, Sams al-Din conside-
taba al hombre como potencialmente igual en esencia a Dios,
cuyo ser —y no sélo cuya voluntad— crea el mundo. EI hombre
perfecto debe elevarse sobre el mundo de la apariencia, ascen-
det a Dios, hasta la disolucién de la individualidad en lo eter-
no, como Jas olas en el océano, cuya plenitud Hena todo, porque
nada existe verdaderamente fuera de este océano, Los. fené:
menos serian meros reflejos de Alé, la vinica realidad. Asi, el
credo iskimico debe set entendido en cl sentido de que «no
hay ninguna esencia fuera de la realidad absoluta».. Semejante
‘wajiidiyya , y, en consecuencia, «la esencia de Dios es nuestra esencian,
las obras de Dios son nuestras obras», y los ediablos y ange
les somos nosotros mismos». Ideas téntricas, sean. las cuales
cl bien y el mal no cuentan para los inicisdos, resuenan en
este contexto, y todavia a principios del siglo xnx la alabanza
incesantemente repetida del nombre de Dios se experimentaba
como un éxtasis en la unién heterosexual (secta Bitahi con
25 resonancias del budismo ténitico bbairaoa). Todavia en el si-
glo xx tanto el monismo radical como 1a mistica ortodoxa is
limica eran transmitidos de maestros a discipalos, desde el
cordnico aconocerse a si mismo es conocer al Sefiory, hasta la
f6rmula Wufiddivya «todo lo que existe soy yor. Ain en 1954,
la sociedad Imu Setjati (fondada en 1925 y denominada a
veces «verdadero Islam»), a la que, segin una encuesta socio-
logica, realizada en una pequefia ciudad del norte de Indonesia,
pertenecia casi el 7 por 100 de la poblacién total de la misma
transmitia, por ejemplo, doctrinas esotéricas de este ‘ipo: al
mismo tiempo a Mahoma se le atribuyen doctrinas secretas;
el yo humano se identifica con Dios, la respiracién humana
con su enviado; el profeta (en drabe rasil, esto es, rasil Allab,
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