At least almost 30% of the population have East Asian genes noticeable enough on their physical features (lighter skin and monolid eyes but not as glowingly pale as North Chinese, Japanese, or Koreans maybe due to the Philippine weather).
At least a total of 50% of the population have East Asian genes/ancestry but the other 20% in this 50% have unnoticeable physical features (mostly with natural tanned skin and double lids but can still be mistaken as Chinese in China or by untrained foreign eyes since other Chinese, especially Southerners, can have the same features).
Whenever I’m in China, I get treated as a local. Many local strangers come to me to ask for directions thinking I’m a local too. I sat beside a group of white people, a Chinese staff spoke to them in English but that same Chinese staff spoke to me in Mandarin. And then we both laughed when I told her I do not speak Chinese.
In Japan, I sat beside Filipinos with a Japanese tour guide. I didn’t reveal to these Filipinos that I’m also Filipino. The Japanese tour guide talked to me in Japanese whenever he asks me to fall in line first before them. Maybe it was technically not because I look Japanese, but instead since the Japanese tour guide was clueless about my nationality, and since I look East Asian, she spoke to me in Japanese. And the rest of staff from different stores did the same. They suddenly became silent the moment I started speaking English.
In Taiwan, I thought that a woman sitting in front of me was a Taiwanese local. She was wearing a trench/overcoat which is common for Taiwanese women to wear during winter. She is monolid and her skin is fair. When I heard her speak Tagalog, that was the only time I knew she’s also a kababayan (fellow countryman).
In Malaysia, same thing, they spoke to me in Malay. In Singapore, I once ate in a restaurant around Marina Bay. I didn’t know that the waitress is Filipina (she’s fair skinned Malay looking) although I had a guess because of her accent. I wanted to ask her nationality but it will be too awkward and unprofessional. Regardless, she spoke English to me. When I paid using my credit card issued by a Philippine bank, that’s the only time she asked and knew that I’m Filipino.
Finally, in the Philippines, they just talk to me in Tagalog. Maybe because I wear clothes the Filipino way whenever I’m here and technically, Manila has many chinitos and chinitas that’s why they just assume I’m Filipino based on my clothes and actions. Some staff in Jollibee have mistaken some Chinese migrants as Filipinos. I’ve noticed that if you are chinky and your skin is pale but not as smooth and glowy as those of typical Korean’s or Chinese’s, they’ll just assume you are Filipino chinito, especially if their eyes are trained enough to distinguish the fashion styles of East Asian migrants from Filipino chinitos.
Same in Visayas, they just talk to me in Cebuano without knowing I’m from Luzon.
It’s like comparing North Europeans and South Europeans, Scandinavian Whites and Mediteranean Whites, and to a greater extent, Whites, Arabs, and Indians too.
An English Man going to France without speaking a single English word might be mistaken as a local. A Mediteranean looking woman from Sweden might be mistaken as a local in Italy or Spain. It’s the same thing within East and Southeast Asia.
You cannot generalize that a certain nationality has a specific feature because just like the example above, they are all caucasians, their physical features also overlap. If the Indian is light skinned enough, he can be mistaken as an Arab or White too.
Same with Asians. Both East Asians and Southeast Asians are in Mongol race. If the Asian is fairer and monolid, you may assume he is East Asian even if some SEAs look the same. If the Asian is tanned and monolid, you may assume he’s also from China, Japan, or somewhere in SEA. If the Asian is dark skinned and not monolid, you may assume he’s from Southeast Asia, but dark skinned Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans also exists. I’ve seen a significant no. of North Koreans with dark skinned and monolid eyes. Does that mean they do not have East Asian ancestry just because they’re dark? They might even be the purest since North Korea has remained untouched by foreign influences for half a century.
Nationality, even ethnicity, is not generally based on race or appearance because they overlap. Humans are natural nomads. Once they migrate and settle, generation 3 and up will just forget that their ancestors were migrants and assume that they are pure blooded regardless of their appearance.
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