In the United States, the most common use of the word refers to people originating from East and Southeast Asia (China, Japan, South/North Korea, Vietnam, among others). Indians and Pakistanis might be referred to as South Asians, where as Filipinos and Samoans might be called Pacific Islanders.
In England, “asian” most commonly refers to people of Indian or Pakistani descent, whereas “oriental” might refer to East and Southeast Asians (NOTE: “oriental” is certainly considered politically incorrect in the United States).
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=asian
As an actual Briton (not England, please get it right), I know what we refer to. And the Asian British community contains as many Sikhs and Hindus as Muslims.