The Meaning of the Milk Tea Protests

Abstract Since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, the world has witnessed an era of protest. Nearly every corner of the globe has been impacted by protest diffusion. East and Southeast Asia have been no different, with recent pro-democracy revolts and movements in Thailand (2020) and Myanmar (2021–present) having been partially inspired by mass pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong (2014 and 2019) and Taiwan (2014). The virtual alliance that sprouted between protesters and activists across these polities was dubbed the Milk Tea Alliance. This article takes a comparative approach and explores the commonalities of the protests and their participants across the four locales. It argues that the shared political experiences and developments run much deeper than the hashtag alliance and therefore should be understood as part of a transformative regional protest wave that requires further exploration.