Last updated on May 11th, 2021 at 08:35 am
Thai social media users mocked China for authoritarian rule and likened President Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh. A comparison that is also banned in China. “Thailand is poor, but China is Pooh,” read one viral tweet.
Social media anger from Chinese communists over a Thai internet model’s comments on the virus from Wuhan has set off a storm. Uniting pro-democracy campaigners against pro-Beijing cyber-warriors, with insults and mocking memes flying. The quarrel, which has seen Thai netizens join forces with those in Taiwan and Hong Kong. It has highlighted old tensions between China and its smaller neighbors fanned by the Beijing’s coverup of the Wuhan Virus.
Political analysts and activists said the online row, which started at the weekend, was unique. Consequently, at a time when ever more of life has been forced online. “This is the first transnational geopolitical Twitter war Thais have engaged in,” said Prajak Kongkirati of Bangkok’s Thammasat University. “We see people questioning China’s actions and influence … The celebrity issue is the tip of the iceberg.”
Furious Chinese netizens then said she had once appeared to suggest, in a post on Instagram, that Taiwan was not part of China. Beijing says the self-ruled island is an indivisible part of its territory. Weeraya did not respond to requests for comment and neither of the messages was visible on her accounts. Further fueling the fire, Chinese accounts then accused Weeraya’s boyfriend, Vachirawit Chivaaree, of having once liked a post that identified Hong Kong as a country. Again a no-no for Beijing.
Despite his apology, Chinese communists called for a boycott of his hit TV show. Related hashtags on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo resulted in more than 4.64 billion views and 1.44 million posts.
Related hashtags on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo resulted in more than 4.64 billion views and 1.44 million posts. Thai posters, using one well-known internet meme, labelled a menacing character as Chinese people trying to hurt Thai people’s feelings by insulting their country. A nonchalant character was described as Thai people who have been insulting their country for years. Meanwhile, Thai social media users mocked China for authoritarian rule and likened President Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh. A comparison that is also banned in China. “Thailand is poor, but China is Pooh,” read one viral tweet.
