Backbone shown by South-East Asian (7)
I believe the answer is:
chinese
'asian' is the definition.
(Chinese is an example)
'backbone shown by south-east' is the wordplay.
'backbone' becomes 'chine' (chine is a kind of backbone).
'shown by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'south east' becomes 'se'.
'chine'+'se'='CHINESE'
(Other definitions for chinese that I've seen before include "- Chequers; - leaves; - puzzle" , "Since he, strangely, is this nationality" , "Oriental language" , "Mandarin possibly" , "She nice in this language?" .)