Apr 15
"Autocracy & Protest Culture in Asia: The "Milk Tea Alliance" with Jeffrey Wasserstrom
"Autocracy & Protest Culture in Asia: The "Milk Tea Alliance" with Jeffrey Wasserstrom
Tuesday, April 15, 5:15-6:45pm, Alumni Guest House Meeting Room
Burma is in a state of civil war. Hong Kong has changed from a place with virtually no political prisoners to one with many in a few years. Thailand is a monarchy with lèse-majesté laws. While the political situations in Burma, Thailand, and Hong Kong are radically different, many young activists and exiles from these regions feel their struggles are connected. How do these activists, each facing unique situations, find common ground and sustain one another?
Wasserstrom is a historian who has traveled globally to interview dozens of dissidents who express solidarity with one another online and on the streets, and sometimes refer to themselves as belonging to the "Milk Tea Alliance" - a nod to their shared opposition to nationalistic Beijing loyalists and the fact that their cultures' iconic drinks contain dairy, unlike mainland China's traditional tea. In this loosely constituted alliance united by democratic values, Wasserstrom finds shared concerns over autocrats and the rising influence of a common adversary, the Chinese Communist Party.
Activists that Wasserstrom interviewed include: Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, who protested against compulsory Thai military service; Agnes Chow, co-founder of a political party now banned in Hong Kong; and Ye Mint Win (aka Nickey Diamond) who, fearing reprisal from the junta for his human rights work, fled to Germany from Burma in the early 2020s.