Postcolonialism, Globalization, and the ‘Asia Question’

How to make sense of “Asia,” an impossible object of study, and what it means today, in light of the rise of China after the age of opium wars and full-on imperialism. Asia as ASEAN 3 or a China-centered regional and global system. The “case” of the PRC poses a number of challenges to current theory about colonialism and sovereignty and the alleged end of the cold war. It also demonstrates how the not-colonized is deeply impacted by modern imperialism and neo-liberalism. The striking non-debate or missed opportunity between postcolonial studies and the mainland (or China studies) is explored here, with a number of venues opened up for further debate. The politics of China knowledge