East Asian connection, we hear (4)
I believe the answer is:
thai
'east asian' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'connection we hear' is the wordplay.
'connection' becomes 'tie' (tie is a kind of connection).
'we hear' shows a homophone (sound like).
'tie' is a homophone of 'THAI'.
(Other definitions for thai that I've seen before include "East Asian" , "oriental language" , "From Bangkok, for instance" , "Native of Bangkok, say" , "Someone from Bangkok, perhaps" .)