Japan is a bigger direct investor in the U.S. economy than China—by almost 100 times. In 2010, Japanese investment in the U.S. totaled $257.3 billion—second only to investment from the U.K.—while Chinese investments totaled $3.2 billion.

Asia is home to more than half the world’s population. Freedom and tyranny live side by side, as do economic opportunity and poverty. Asia is home to some of the most unstable, dangerous nations in the world, and it is home to some of the most steady and reliable. It is also home to the only country in the world capable of emerging as a peer competitor for global American influence: the People’s Republic of China.

Every year, The Heritage Foundation releases the Key Asian Indicators: A Book of Charts. The 2012 edition is now available. Follow the link to access this helpful resource and get information on everything Asia—Asia’s fastest-growing economies, Asia’s top investors in the U.S. economy, and the real numbers on who owns the most U.S. federal debt.