>>509812791Even in mainland Europe?
We bongs have historically used the word asian to refer to people from India (and, later, Pakistan), and Americans get annoyed about that, but the reason is simple to understand. India was the most important part of the British empire and we had many adventures there. We kindly allowed some Indians to come and live here, too. We didn't have much to do with the orient (other than the opium wars and Hong Kong). So, historically for us, when referring to the continent of Asia, it was 90% India and Indians, so 'Asian' became at general ten for those people.
Got the Americans, their adventures in Asia were in places like Korea, Japan and Vietnam, so when they historically referred to Asians, it was orientals 90% of the time. So, in America, 'Asian' became a general term for those people.