The Milk Tea Alliance defies our typical understanding of a grassroots movement. It is first and foremost virtual, birthed from an innocuous tweet from Thai actor Vachirawit “Bright” Chiva-aree that labeled Hong Kong a country. From there, a Twitter/Sina Weibo war between pro-Beijing wumao – paid pro-Chinese internet trolls – and Thai netizens spiraled into an anti-CCP alliance incorporating internet users in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Since then, the Milk Tea Alliance has captured the imagination of anti-CCP protesters across the world. Most recently, Thai artist Sina Wittayawiroj created a posterincorporating Myanmar into the Alliance. While primarily virtual, the MTA has at various points generated material support and spurred anti-coup protests across Southeast Asia.
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