The Boba Bloc Brewing Change: How Southeast Asian Youth Are Stirring Up Solidarity
These colors represent the milk teas of the three founding countries of the Milk Tea Alliance—the orange color on the left symbolizes Thai tea, the salmon color in the middle symbolizes Hong Kong milk tea, and the greyish brown color on the right represents Taiwanese milk tea. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
Milk tea is no longer just a drink—it has become a widespread, leaderless, and dynamic symbol for the Milk Tea Alliance (MTA), an online group of Southeast Asian youth fighting for democracy and anti-authoritarianism. The transnational alliance is establishing a new chapter of Southeast Asian political collectivity defined by online youth engagement. The name “Milk Tea Alliance” represents the common ground of milk tea culture in the three founding countries of the coalition. These three countries are differentiated by their respective milk teas: Taiwan’s milk tea is usually cold and contains tapioca pearls, Thailand’s milk tea has a distinctive bright orange color, and Hong Kong’s milk tea uses black tea and tea dust from Sri Lanka. Milk tea was chosen to represent this modern, pro-democracy movement in a region of increasing authoritarianism because it unifies and includes countries such as Taiwan, Thailand, and Hong Kong but also excludes China as a country, whose tea is usually consumed without milk. The intentional exclusion is a result of China’s encroaching power in the Southeast Asian region. Garnering global attention, the MTA has become known for its unconventional tactics of memes, online wars, hashtags, and trolling of anti-democratic entities.
The existence of the MTA signals a youth-oriented transformation that uses the Internet for political involvement and speech. The majority of the MTA is made up of young, “digital natives” that were born with, raised by, and exist alongside the Internet. In 2018, Thai people spent the most time on the Internet, at 9+ hours per day. Hong Kong spent around 7 hours per day, with a 92 percent penetration (access) rate and Taiwan spent over 8 hours a day, with a 90 percent penetration rate, or the percentage of people in an area that use the internet. With heavily engaged internet user bases, online platforms allow the youth to overcome regional barriers and provide them with easier ways to connect with people fighting for the same cause. Even for less internet-engaged youth, the MTA looks to impact their political awareness; the coalition’s pro-democracy content is circulated to these spectators around Southeast Asia, who are then introduced to anti-authority ideologies and can in turn be radicalized by it, exemplified by countries such as Myanmar.
The MTA started in a very unusual way: a meme war. When Thai actor Vachirawit Chivaaree liked a tweet referring to Hong Kong as a country, he inadvertently provoked a fierce backlash from Chinese internet trolls who, in response, attacked Thailand’s administrative and economic structures and operations. In Thailand, internet users that are constantly online, also known as ‘netizens’, used the trolls’ criticisms to protest their own country’s government. Netizens from Hong Kong and Taiwan who were tired of online harassment from Chinese users, along with a general animosity towards China, rallied in support of the Thai, helping to promote anti-authoritarianism discussions. The general goals of the MTA are to oppose China, promote democracy, and reform governments that are undemocratic and pro-China, and members try to help each other achieve these goals in their respective countries through online activism.
The MTA proves to be a more effective movement than existing regional organizations like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which is dedicated to the collaboration of economic, political, social, and security and already exists in Southeast Asia. ASEAN is widespread, consisting of ten member states: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Despite its apparent legitimacy, ASEAN has been criticized for its tendency to prioritize planning for the far future instead of focusing on critical issues in the present, operational disagreements among member countries, and lack of leadership, especially regarding region-wide responses to China, maritime conflicts in the South China Sea, and the civil war in Myanmar. ASEAN’s failure to respond to these regional concerns can be credited to its founding principle of non-interventionism, which has undermined the organization’s ability to respond decisively.
In contrast, the MTA’s lack of formal structures or institutional constraints allows it to work more productively toward democracy and federalism in Southeast Asian countries such as Myanmar, which has suffered through political instability and military violence against dissenters and civilians since the 2021 coup d’état. By operating as a decentralized online movement, the MTA can quickly disseminate ideas and mobilize support. While it does not have the formal authority of an intergovernmental organization, it has effectively fostered transnational solidarity and energized activism amid ASEAN’s political paralysis.
One example of the MTA's successful promotion of the pro-democracy movement is its collaboration with Myanmar in organization and activism post-coup. On February 1, 2021, the Tatmadaw—the Burmese military who ascended to power in a coup—started arresting leaders such as sitting State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi President Win Myint, numerous protest leaders, parliamentarians, and influential Buddhist monks. In response, pro-democracy protests started within the day and the MTA quickly mobilized by spreading hashtags regarding these arrests, directing Burmese protesters to follow Hong Kong protest tactics. Thailand and Hong Kong rapidly provided assistance to the people of Myanmar on social media and protested in their own countries. The multinational network of the MTA introduced the Burmese youth to the larger protest culture and the prospect of democratic liberties, which helped motivate and maintain interest in the extensive protests.
The Burmese youth who were brought to action by anger about the government in 2021, held the largest demonstrations in Myanmar since the 2007 Saffron Revolution. Protesters were inspired by the unconventional and pop-culture methods of rebellion that the MTA had popularized. Protesters dressed up in costumes ranging from Power Rangers to Harry Potter, to unicorns, and brandished satirical posters mocking the government. Some posters that were photographed declared “Roses are red, violets are blue, I thought Voldemort was bad but then I met you MAL (Min Aung Hlaing),” “Dictatorship? B**** plz! I don’t even want a relationship,” and “I Hate Military Coup More Than Manchester United.” People also held up the three-finger salute from the Hunger Games as an act of defiance. On the streets, peaceful protest and leadership tactics in Myanmar arose from strategies circulated by other Milk Tea Alliance members such as Hong Kong’s mobile protests and wearing yellow construction helmets and holding umbrellas. This cross-border cooperation has globalized the MTA, not only transcending country boundaries but also regional and continental ones. MTA-related content has also appeared in Japan to advocate for the diasporic populations of Hongkongers, Burmese, and Thai people living there, and it is gaining traction in Indonesia and Malaysia as well. MTA action has even expanded to encourage peace in Ukraine and Palestine. The MTA is not limited to the original countries’ issues and objectives anymore—it is now used as a framework in broader fights for human rights and democracy.
The MTA has even been recognized as a legitimate political movement by influential people and organizations and its success is similarly proved by the international support it has garnered. Western media organizations such as NBC News, The Atlantic, Reuters, Time, and Bloomberg have covered stories on the MTA; prominent activists and civil society groups have acknowledged and encouraged the MTA, including Joshua Wong and hacktivist group Anonymous; and X has even given the MTA its own emoji: when the hashtag #MilkTeaAlliance is mentioned, a white cup with three colors behind it appears, showing how even X has acknowledged the reach and influence of this movement.
Netizens have used their knowledge of social media platforms to game the algorithm by pairing hashtags with #MilkTeaAlliance to reach multiple audiences. An example is #StopMekongDam, which sought to stop China from damming the Mekong River because it would have disrupted the environment and fishermen’s ability to feed their families, and the associated petition to America amassed 93,892 signatures. The MTA’s reach to countries like America and the commitment of members to achieve this goal reflects the will of the people to change their society’s functions and will hopefully influence policy in the future.
The MTA is indisputably important in giving the youth a voice and helping build their political consciousness through the democratization of political power online. However, the alliance’s proponents and members must be conscientious in the coming years about how they choose to engage with the movement, what ideas and goals they associate with it, and most importantly, who they can include in the movement to achieve greater global influence.
Lauren Chao (BC ’28) is a Staff Writer from Manhattan Beach, CA. She is interested in international affairs and law, immigration, race and ethnicity studies, gender equality, economic imperialism, and linguistic nationalism. She is planning on studying human rights and another discipline in the humanities. She can be reached at lsc2186@barnard.edu.