And where do the Indians fit in? You know, a billion caucasians smack dab in the middle of Asia? And most of Russia?
The reason we in America wrongly call only oriental people "Asian" is due to PC. PC terms are typically far from accurate.
I think it's more for simplicity sake - nothing to do with PC at all. I'm not PC and I refer to oriental people as either oriental or asian. I refer to peoples of the middle east as middle eastern. Just makes it easier to define in conversations. If I say asian, well, it's just too vague. I'm not an attorney; only attorneys like vaguery.