was it possible for an 19th 'scramble for east asia'?

Would it be possible for a 'scramble for africa'-type situation to happen in east asia, where the great powers of europe divide the area between them? what would be the consequences of a divided china/japan/korea on the world?
 
Two big problems here: distances and circumstances. Africa is much closer to Europe, and the Atlantic provides a more convenient and immediate access to Africa than to Asia. Also, Asian polities had much larger and sophisticated populations (culturally and militarily), and a great power did not need to carve a piece of Korea or China to trade with it, just a port.

That is not to say that the Scramble for Africa was a cakewalk. It wouldnt be if the colonial empires had not put a lot of direct effort to it. Asia, on the other hand, involves much greater and concerted effort.

Now, I suppose that we could see some more directed efforts into Asian expansionism: Indochina if the French failed to monopolize their dominion over it, Korea (Russia, France and perhaps Britain could grab pieces of it, provided they have the interest, perhaps as a means to contain a more formidable China or even rising Japan) and perhaps Indonesia/Malaysia if the Dutch sit too long out of the game, considering that their consolidation over the whole archipelago was fairly late.

India I suppose its off limits, but a more aggressive France could play a Great Game focused in southern China and Indochina, with Germany possibly running behind.

It is good to remember that the scramble had the apparent feel of a competition, but the stakes were high. Interfering in the sphere of another Great Power exacerbated tensions, as we saw in Fashoda, in Afghanistan and in Portugal's Pink Map. Perhaps having minor powers attempting their luck could result in a more competitive game instead of only UK, France and Russia.

Not sure about Japan. At most I imagine some GP could get an island such as Choshu (sp?), but this would likely give more headaches than Vietnam.

Regarding China, I suppose that if it happens to collapse into warlordism much earlier, the GPs would have interest in taking larger shares... But I think only an apocalyptic China scenario would warrant this.
 
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