[Nippom]

I tried for a descriptive title, but what I'm asking is,
I often imagine in my mind and group the European nations such as England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Scandinavian countries, and so on, view themselves and each other as a sort of symbiotic whole made up of vaguely related but not identical parts,

and then compare this to the mutual relationships of China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, and other Asian nations, that they view themselves much the same way as the first group do themselves.

Is the analogy realistic or supportable, or are there serious problems with comparing the two 'constellations' like this?