I also do not think FEI should have been pop rebalanced. It was already more balanced than the other islands are now, before it took this hit. Now it is just insane.
That said, I think it does make feeding our cities a bit easier, and considering how much trouble Zonasa was having doing that before, I can't completely complain. But it removes a LOT of flavor, quite honestly.
FEI did have some Asian flavor in the beginning, but not, as I recall, a whole lot. But there was some present if I recall correctly (it was a long time ago, and I wasn't around for the very beginning).
