I once posted an article on the web in which I referred collectively to people from China, Japan, and the Koreas as "Oriental". I got an email from someone who informed me that this is an offensive term and that I should call such people by the specific country of origin — "Chinese" or whatever — or collectively as "Asians". She claimed that "Oriental" refers to an object, like "an Oriental vase", and is insulting when applied to a person.
I consider "Asian" inappropriate as it would include Siberians, Afghans, Pakistanis, etc. And of course "Chinese" is unacceptable if you want to include Japanese, Koreans, and related cultures.
So my question is: Do people from this part of the world really find the word "Oriental" offensive? If so, what term do they prefer for themselves? I'd be particularly interested in hearing from someone who actually is of Japanese, Chinese, etc., background, rather than an American or European saying what he thinks someone else thinks.
(Frankly I thought the argument about "Oriental" applying to an object was a little curious. I call myself an "American". I don't find it at all offensive that the same word used to describe me as a human being is also used to describe objects, like "American cars", "American food", etc. Both people and objects can be from the same physical place, so I don't see any problem with using the same adjective to describe both. But maybe there are different connotations to the word "Oriental". )
Best Answer
You might be able to use the term "East Asians". Of course, you have to consider whether your audience is sufficiently familiar with the East Asia region or not. Also, Mongolia is at times included as an East Asian country; and to further muddle the boundaries, some people use the term "East Asia" to also include Southeast Asia (not a practice I personally approve of).
In order to avoid any ambiguity you could define the term when you first use it in an article, e.g. East Asians (i.e. people from China, Japan, and the Koreas).
As for "Oriental", I don't believe it carries a negative connotation in most of Europe (but I'm not 100% sure on this). To me, the term carries connotations of romanticism and adventure - probably because of the Orient Express. However, it is definitely an antiquated term and on that basis alone I would recommend you not to use it. The fact that some people (possibly a large amount of people) take offence to the term is another good reason to phrase it differently. Note that both Oxford Dictionaries Online and Merriam-Webster list "Oriental" as having negative connotations. (Also note that they disagree somewhat on the geographical scope of the term, with the former dictionary interpreting it as referring in particular to East Asians and the latter as referring to Asians in general.)
And what do you mean by people from "this part of the world"? Are you referring to actual Chinese, Japanese and Korean citizens or to people who can be ethnically classified as such but are citizens of countries outside of East Asia? I can tell you that my Chinese friends (Chinese nationals) aren't even familiar with the term "oriental" and that they would refer to themselves as Chinese (and that makes perfect sense as you would most likely also refer to yourself as American rather than North American if someone asked). If they'd use a regional term they would definitely go with "Asian" - but as you already noted, this term is too broad to be of much use in many cases.