I don’t think it’s a matter of IQ, but application. Some countries still have old-school teaching methods that get results, and still have a preponderance of families that expect and demand results. Notice that Germany - the land of Einstein - finished only 27th?
“I don’t think it’s a matter of IQ, but application.”
That and the Asian mindset. They are raised from birth to work hard and excel at everything they do.
I watched a Vietnamese father give his 16-year-old daughter a spanking for getting a “B” on her report card while the rest of her grades were all “As”.