Milk Tea Alliance

The Milk Tea Alliance is an online democratic solidarity movement made up of netizens from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, and Myanmar.[2][3] It originally started as an internet meme, created in response to the increased presence of Chinese trolls and nationalist commentators on social media[4][5] and has evolved into a dynamic cross-national protest movement pushing for democracy and human rights.

"Milk Tea Alliance" flag created by netizens (The color of the flag in turn from the left stands for Thai milk tea, Hong Kong milk tea and Taiwanese milk tea)[1]

Background
External image
Milk Tea Alliance memes published by "奶茶通俗學 Milktealogy" Facebook[1]

In April 2020, Thai actor Vachirawat “Bright” Cheeva-aree, whose TV drama 2gether has been popular in China, reposted an image on Twitter which listed Hong Kong as a "country", after which Chinese nationalist Internet commentators attacked him and called for a boycott of his show. Bright apologized and took the image down, but Chinese netizens discovered a post by his girlfriend, model Weeraya “New” Sukaram, from 2017 which insinuated that Taiwan was an independent country and the attacks were redoubled.[6] The Chinese embassy in Bangkok posted a long statement on Facebook condemning the online criticism and a fierce digital battle ensued between Thai netizens and the Chinese embassy. Thai netizens took to social media and defended Bright with their criticism turning into more generalized criticism of China, launching a Twitter war with the hashtag #nnevvy. Within Thailand support for Hong Kong and Taiwan's struggle against Chinese encroachment has unified the disparate groups of pro-democracy protesters with anti-Beijing sentiment becoming a part of their anti-authoritarian platform.[7][8]

Twitter users in Taiwan and Hong Kong soon joined Thai users in what The Telegraph called "a rare moment of regional solidarity".[9] Pallabi Munsi, writing in OZY, described the Milk Tea Alliance taking on 50 Cent Party and Little Pink as "Asia's volunteer army rising against China’s internet trolls."[10]

Name

Milk tea is seen as a symbol of anti-China solidarity by southeast Asians because in many southeast Asian countries tea is historically consumed with milk, while in China it is not.[11] The Taiwanese bubble tea, Hong Kong-style milk tea and Thai tea are all local variations of milk tea with strong similarities.[2][8]

Timeline
Map of "Milk Tea Alliance" (India is also a member of the alliance in many scenarios)

In the following months, the Milk Tea Alliance has evolved from being an anti-Beijing meme into a "leaderless protest movement pushing for change across Southeast Asia.".[7]

  • Following the 2020 China–India skirmishes, India has also been included in some formulations of the Alliance with masala chai being their representative variety of milk tea.[11] Politicians in both Taiwan and India have highlighted the existence of the Milk Tea Alliance including Taiwanese representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim who used the hashtag in a tweet thanking Indians for their support.[12]
  • After Australia called for an investigation into the World Health Organization's botched handling of the COVID-19, China threatened a consumer boycott if Australia did not back down from its demands for an inquest. Netizens then included Australia as a member of the Milk Tea Alliance, however the relation to milk tea is tenuous with the milk product Aptamil standing in for an actual variety of milk tea in imagery.[13]
  • In August 2020 renewed pro-democracy protests in Thailand, its largest anti-government protests since the 2014 military coup, drew support and solidarity from Taiwanese and Hong Kongers like Joshua Wong.[7] The hashtag #MilkTeaAlliance was heavily used by protesters.[14][15]
  • Since the 2020 Belarusian protests broke out in August after the opposition and international monitors said it was not a fair presidential election in the country, some internet activists from Asia began to include Ryazhenka, a traditional fermented milk product drink of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, in the Milk Tea Alliance as a way for Belarusians to push back against the government of Alexander Lukashenko, as well as the Union State relationships between Russia and Belarus.
  • In February 2021, in the wake of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, activists in Myanmar and neighboring Thailand began adopting the Milk Tea Alliance in show of solidarity, with pictures of Royal Myanmar Tea bags shared thousands of times.[16] An illustration by Thai artist Sina Wittayawiroj that depicts Thai, Taiwanese, Hong Kong, Indian and Burmese milk tea under the "Milk Tea Alliance" headline went viral.[16]

Response

Chinese disinformation operations have tried to portray the Milk Tea Alliance as a color revolution style American government plot.[17]

See also

References
  1. "【我們信靠奶茶】「泰幽默」擊退「小粉紅」　泰港台三地網民籲組「奶茶聯盟」齊抗中國網軍". 立場新聞. 16 April 2020. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  2. Tanakasempipat, Patpicha. "Young Thais join 'Milk Tea Alliance' in online backlash that angers Beijing". mobile.reuters.com. Reuters. Archived from the original on 23 August 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  3. Bunyavejchewin, Poowin. "Will the 'Milk Tea War' Have a Lasting Impact on China-Thailand Relations?". thediplomat.com. The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  4. McDevitt, Dan. "'In Milk Tea We Trust': How a Thai-Chinese Meme War Led to a New (Online) Pan-Asia Alliance". thediplomat.com. The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  5. Lau, Jessie. "Why the Taiwanese are thinking more about their identity". www.newstatesman.com. New Statesman. Archived from the original on 21 May 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  6. Chan, Christina. "Milk is thicker than blood: An unlikely digital alliance between Thailand, Hong Kong & Taiwan". hongkongfp.com. Hong Kong Free Press. Archived from the original on 19 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  7. Chen, Heather. "Milk Tea Alliance: How A Meme Brought Activists From Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand Together". www.vice.com. Archived from the original on 23 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  8. Barron, Laignee (28 October 2020). "'We Share the Ideals of Democracy.' How the Milk Tea Alliance Is Brewing Solidarity Among Activists in Asia and Beyond". time.com. Time. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  9. Smith, Nicola (3 May 2020). "#MilkTeaAlliance: New Asian youth movement battles Chinese trolls". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  10. Munsi, Pallabi (15 July 2020). "The Asian Volunteer Army Rising Against China's Internet Trolls". OZY. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  11. Deol, Taran. "'We conquer, we kill': Taiwan cartoon showing Lord Rama slay Chinese dragon goes viral". theprint.in. The Print. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  12. Cheng, Jassie Hsi. "The Taiwan–India 'Milk Tea Alliance'". thediplomat.com. The Diplomat. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  13. Everington, Keoni. "Photo of the Day: Australia joins Milk Tea Alliance with Taiwan". www.taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News. Archived from the original on 1 May 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  14. Patpicha, Tanakasempipat; Chow, Yanni. "Pro-Democracy Milk Tea Alliance Brews in Asia". www.usnews.com. US News and World Report. Archived from the original on 23 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  15. Fenn, Kirsten (6 November 2020). "'We Share the Ideals of Democracy.' How the Milk Tea Alliance Is Brewing Solidarity Among Activists in Asia and Beyond". www.cbc.ca. CBC Radio. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  16. "#MilkTeaAlliance has a new target brewing: Myanmar's military". South China Morning Post. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  17. Hioe, Brian. "IS THE MILK TEA ALLIANCE THE LATEST TARGET BY CHINESE DISINFORMATION EFFORTS IN TAIWAN?". newbloommag.net. New Bloom Magazine. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
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