Modern East and Southeast Asia

by, 1500, Asian goods such as silk, porcelain, and tea had become highly valued in Europe.

European merchants began travelling to the region to trade these goods

China tried to isolate from European influences

By 1890s, European and Japanese had claimed large areas of China as a spheres of Influence (an area of a country where a single foreign has been granted exclusive trading rights)

Foreign interference in their country angered many Chinese.

In 1911, this anger led to a revolution - ended weak Qing dynasty and established a republic

By 1927, a military leader named Chiang-Kai-shek had formed Nationalist Government

Mean while his opponent Mao Zedong gained support from China's Farmer

after a year of Civil war, the Communist won power in 1949

Set up the people's Republic of China on the Chinese main land

Nationalist fled to offshore island of Taiwan

there they settled a government called the Republic of China