Westernisation in Asia: an idea

The comic which hit the front page earlier got me thinking about westernisation in the far East. I think it's safe to say most people aren't satisfied with the westernisation mechanic in general; it's very game-y and unsatisfying and [especially in East Asia] forces you to make unrealistic decisions [rapid colonisation in Mexico as an example] to remain competitive.

It's also plain unrealistic. As an example, from a historical standpoint the technological gap between China and the West largely accumulated from Ming/Qing policymaking, yet you have no domestic policy options at your disposal to circumvent/overcome the tech gap should you wish to run your country differently.

My proposition is a simple two opposing 'path' system for East Asian countries in place of the current westernisation system - isolation and westernisation. Instead of clicking a button when you reach proximity with another country the system could operate on a scale once you reach a certain tech level, with a bonus to one resulting in a malus to the other - so they in effect cancel each other out.

These values could be increased/decreased via all the usual means including events, policies, national decisions, etc, and would attempt to return to a balanced state of neither isolationism nor westernisation without active involvement - necessitating upkeep in either direction. Long periods of maintaining the level of one specific policy type should slowly result in cheaper tech costs, up to -60% to be on par with European states. Obviously staying neutral confers no reductions in tech cost and represents an indecisive administration or a weakened one.

If the player opts to focus on westernisation, a new 'estate' - foreign influence [for lack of a better term] - could be introduced, utilising the mechanic introduced in the upcoming expansion. Further increases in westernisation could increase the influence of foreigners in your court [alongside the usual methods outlined in the dev diary], making it potentially dangerous.

This could bring with it bonuses anything from increased trade power to lower unit cost, but also at higher levels of influence maluses such as a national prestige malus and increased unrest alongside reduced missionary strength vs. heathens. At high foreign influence Western countries could even get a 'demand concessions' casus belli although you could legitimately argue that the scramble for control in Asia really exists beyond the timeframe of this game. At the very least I think Western countries with trade power in the area should see an increase in trade efficiency or something similar.

Alternatively, by pursuing isolationism the player could receive anything from reductions to unrest, increases in taxation and production, a large prestige bonus per annum and a large reduction in the cost of ideas, missionary strength increases vs. heathens...there's a whole host of appropriate bonuses. Very high levels of isolationism could result in technological stagnation and potentially give a casus belli to Western countries with trade power in the region to 'enforce open trade'.

TL;DR: New westernisation mechanic proposed for East Asian nations: two branches, isolationism or westernisation, bonuses and maluses for pursuing either one at the expense of the other. System will attempt to return to a neutral policy of neither over time [like prestige decay], and maintaining one policy long term will slowly result in reduced tech costs [up to 60%] - associated with either the trade of technology with Western powers or the internal development of technology through a prolonged system of isolation. Very high values of either branch bad news.