As Hong Kong pro-democracy advocates voiced support for Thai anti-government protests over the weekend, they used the hashtag #MilkTeaAlliance.
In Bangkok, flags representing Hong Kong and independence for Taiwan appeared on a sign bearing the tag at the biggest demonstrations in years.
In Taipei, dozens of people gathered to back the Thai protests and give weight to a nascent community of cross-border youth movements pushing for democracy at home and uneasy with China’s growing regional power.
Photo: Reuters
“This is the first physical expression of the Milk Tea Alliance,” said Thai student Akrawat Siripattanachok, 27, who helped organize the show of solidarity in Taipei joined by Hong Kong advocates, a Chinese dissident and Taiwanese students. “We don’t want to just talk about it online. We want a pan-Asian alliance for democracy.”
A hashtag that began in April as a backlash to Chinese nationalist attacks on a Thai celebrity for a perceived slight to China shows signs of turning into a bigger movement uniting like-minded advocates.
Why milk tea? The light-hearted name represents a shared passion for sweet tea drinks in Taiwan, Thailand and Hong Kong.
“The innovative idea of Milk Tea Alliance will enhance more students to push forward global solidarity, which might confront hardline crackdown,” prominent Hong Kong democracy advocate Joshua Wong (黃之鋒) told reporters.
Wong tweeted support for the Thai protesters, while users on LIHKG, a social media forum used by Hong Kong demonstrators, also called on people to highlight the call of the Thai protesters for greater democracy and the departure of Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former junta leader.
“The show of solidarity between different pro-democracy groups in Asia reflects a greater intensity and camaraderie,” Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, 22, one of the Thai protest leaders, told reporters.
Help flows both ways.
Some Thai students have shown support for Hong Kong advocates as Beijing has tightened its grip and for Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party in the face of increased Chinese rhetoric over what China views as a breakaway province.
“The situation in Thailand isn’t so different from Hong Kong or Taiwan, which are under pressure from the authoritarian government of China,” said Rathasat Plenwong, 24, a student protester with a Milk Tea Alliance sign.
The Thai and Hong Kong governments did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the alliance of advocates and whether they were concerned about its impact.
Taiwan respected the comments and positions of the Milk Tea Alliance on the development of the political situation in Thailand, but it took no position itself, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) dismissed the cooperation.
“People who are pro-Hong Kong independence or pro-Taiwan independence often collude online, this is nothing new. Their conspiracy will never succeed,” Zhao said.
While the groups’ bonds might not concern China now, they were a clear sign of the challenge facing its influence in the region, Wasana Wongsurawat, a Chinese history professor at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, told reporters.
“It’s amazing that the Hong Kong and Taiwan bond expanded into the Milk Tea Alliance with Thailand, a sovereign country that doesn’t even list Chinese as a national language,” she said.
Use of the hashtag peaked in April when Chinese Internet users hit back against attacks on the Thai celebrities who had appeared to suggest that Hong Kong was a state and that Taiwan was not part of China.
There have also been shows of interest from the Philippines, because of a dispute with China over the South China Sea, and India after border skirmishes with China since May.
Singaporean blogger and advocate Roy Ngerng, who was found guilty of defaming Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) in a 2014 blog post, was also in the crowd in Taipei.
“The Milk Tea Alliance became the common ground from which we can express our solidarity in humorous and safe spaces,” Ngerng told reporters. “Solidarity is taking on a more organizational and structural form.”
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Packed crowds in India celebrating their cricket team’s victory ended in a deadly stampede on Wednesday, with 11 mainly young fans crushed to death, the local state’s chief minister said. Joyous cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket final on Tuesday night. However, the euphoria of the vast crowds in the southern tech city of Bengaluru ended in disaster, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra calling it “absolutely heartrending.” Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said most of the deceased are young, with 11 dead
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS