Singapore, which is populated primarily by ethnic Chinese, was a British-controlled trading post for many years before gaining its independence as part of Malaysia in 1963.
Singapore separated from Malaysia in 1965 under the leadership of authoritarian Lee Kuan Yew. Today, the country is still a major trading hub, with one of the world's largest ports, as well as a center for banking and oil refining.
The country has good relations with the United States, where Singapore trains its air force. U.S. Navy ships dock in Singapore. Yet Singapore has hardly forsaken China, the ancestral home of most of its residents, refusing to embrace any strategy that would call for the containment of China's growing influence in the world.
Singapore keeps a close watch on Malaysia to the north and largely Muslim Indonesia, located to the south across the strategically important Strait of Malacca.
Taiwan has been a friend to the United States ever since Chiang Kai-shek and his followers fled there in defeat from the Chinese mainland in 1949.
Relations changed dramatically in 1979 when the United States adopted a "one China" policy.
The U.S. no longer officially recognizes Taiwan because that makes mainland China mad -- and yet we still sell weapons to Taiwan to aid in its defense.
Thankfully, relations are stable, with China not demanding reunification and Taiwan not calling for independence. It's a diplomatic limbo that everyone seems happy with at the moment.
The United States doesn't officially have an embassy in Taiwan. Instead, it operates the American Institute in Taiwan, which functions the same as an embassy, complete with the requisite photos of President Obama and Vice President Biden hanging on the wall.
All you really need to know about U.S. relations with South Korea is that we have more than 25,000 troops stationed there in defense of a country that is technically still at war with its neighbor.
Brutally oppressive and unpredictable, North Korea's government, led by Kim Jong-un, wants a nuclear weapon. The country tested a missile in April, but it failed miserably.
The Japanese occupied Korea for 35 years until they were ousted at the end of World War II. The United States came to South Korea's aid in 1950 when North Korea attacked. The Korean War ended in 1953 with the signing of a truce at Panmunjom.
A U.S.-South Korean trade agreement kicked in earlier this year, which should benefit both countries by opening up export markets.
-- Peter Krouse