HK, Singapore: City states with (relatively) tiny populations. Acted as capitalist hubs/entry points to larger economies (PRC, Malayasia, SE Asia etc). Japan,

HK, Singapore: City states with (relatively) tiny populations. Acted as capitalist hubs/entry points to larger economies (PRC, Malayasia, SE Asia etc). Japan, Korea, Taiwan: Massive financial aid from the west, favorable trade deals for being strategic allies of the west. This isn’t to say that the people in these countries didn’t work to get where they are; they could have absolutely fucked it up. But it’s important to understand structural reasons for why some countries develop faster than the others. Upto the late 18th century, South + East asia were absolutely the dominant economic powers of the world accounting for over 50% of the worlds GDP. Colonialism was a huge setback but both China and India (+ other South/East Asian nations like Bangladesh) are rapidly industrializing.