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Myanmar
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Asia’s #MilkTeaAlliance has a new target brewing – the generals behind the Myanmar coup

  • The anti-authoritarian hashtag has spread from the Hong Kong protests to those in Thailand, taking in Taiwan and India too
  • In Thailand and Myanmar, it is seen as allowing young people to show solidarity and outrage at the militaries that refuse to allow democracy to take root

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A Milk Tea Alliance poster by artist Sina Wittayawiroj has gone viral on social media. Photo: Twitter
Vijitra Duangdee

Asia’s meme-laden pro-democracy movement, the #MilkTeaAlliance, has welcomed a new member in Myanmar after the country’s military removed the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup.

The anti-authoritarian hashtag began as a form of solidarity for activists during the 2019 protests in Hong Kong. It quickly found sympathisers in Taiwan, then blossomed in military-dominated Thailand as young demonstrators flooded the streets last year. India has also been occasionally included in the alliance following its clashes with China over the countries’ disputed border.

Now Myanmar has joined the club of Generation Z activists taking on entrenched holders of power with the only weapon they have – social media – while using the milk tea beloved in those territories as a uniting symbol.

Medical staff in Myanmar wear red ribbons and raise the three-finger salute in protest against the military coup. Photo: DPA
Medical staff in Myanmar wear red ribbons and raise the three-finger salute in protest against the military coup. Photo: DPA
On Wednesday, photos of Myanmar hospital workers striking while flashing the three-finger salute of The Hunger Games franchise were spread widely across Thai Twitter. The gesture has become a symbol of the kingdom’s youth-led protest movement, which is calling for reform of the government and monarchy.

Myanmar celebrities Paing Takhon and Hnin Thway Yu Aung shared defiant selfies with the salute on Instagram, while tweets with a picture of Royal Myanmar Teamix have been shared thousands of times.

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