I came across a YouTube comment from a Chinese nationalist, and it made me think hard about this ‘Indians aren’t real Asians’ rhetoric."
So I was watching a video and ended up in the comments section (mistake #1), where this Chinese nationalist was going off about how “India has nothing to do with Southeast or East Asia” and how Indians are “desperate” to be seen as Asian. Like… huh?
At first, I thought it was just usual wumao nonsense. But I’ve seen this kind of take — mostly from wumaos — the more it feels like part of a broader ideological pattern. It's not just random ignorance; it's a calculated effort to culturally isolate India from the rest of Asia.
Let’s unpack that.
1. Denial of Obvious Historical Ties
Anyone who's ever read a history book knows that Indian culture had a massive influence on Southeast Asia. Brahmi-derived scripts? All over Thai, Khmer, Burmese, Balinese, Javanese, etc. Hindu-Buddhist architecture? Just look at Angkor Wat or Borobudur. Shared mythology, epics, kingship models — the list goes on.
To pretend India had “nothing” to do with that region is straight-up erasure.
2. Ethnicity ≠ Culture
These guys always reduce “Asianness” to East Asian facial features, languages, or Confucian values — as if Asia is one monolithic ethno-linguistic group. But Asia is a continent, not a cultural club. You can't just exclude India because it messes with your neat little East Asian civilizational bubble.
3. It’s About Narrative Control
Here’s where it gets interesting: China has been pushing a kind of “Greater China” cultural zone narrative where it frames East and Southeast Asia as part of one civilizational sphere under Chinese influence. In that view, Indian influence is inconvenient. So, it gets minimized or erased.
If you erase India’s role:
- You make Chinese influence seem more natural and dominant in Southeast Asia.
- You downplay India’s foundational role in the spread of Buddhism, which China often repackages as its own civilizational asset.
- You push India toward West Asia in terms of cultural identity, making it easier to exclude it from regional discussions or Asian unity narratives.
4. Projection
Calling Indians “desperate” to be Asian is actually projection. It’s they who are desperate to gatekeep what being Asian means — because if India is recognized as equally influential in shaping Asian history, then the idea of China as the cultural center of Asia gets a lot messier.
5. It’s Not Even About Facts — It’s About Erasure
What’s wild is that they’ll straight-up ignore archaeological records, inscriptions, shared religious traditions, or even living languages influenced by Sanskrit — just to maintain the narrative. That’s not ignorance anymore; that’s ideology.
So yeah — I’m starting to see that this whole “India ≠ Asia” thing isn’t just trolling or ignorance. It’s part of a larger geopolitical mindset: one that wants to culturally sideline India so China can be the face of Asia.
Thoughts?
- which makes it hard for body's natural perspiration system to work
