Transnational Human Spatial Relations of Asian Youths under the Manifestation of‘Milk Tea Alliance’Movement: A case from Thai and Taiwanese activists’experiences

Transnational Human Spatial Relations of Asian Youths under the Manifestation of‘Milk Tea Alliance’Movement: A case from Thai and Taiwanese activists’experiences

In accordance with the provocation and coercion of China’s hegemony in the region, Asian youths express their plausible discontent through forming a transnational civil society named the‘Milk Tea Alliance’. Looming transnational human spatial relations have been shaped by the advancement of telecommunication. Hence, this study aims to elucidate the transnational civil society of the Milk Tea Alliance under the analytical manifestation of transnationalism to delve into the human spatial relations and their transnational identity across geographical boundaries between Thai and Taiwanese activists. A qualitative approach employing online face-to-face interviews with Thai and Taiwanese participants, 18 persons in total, were conducted. The results indicate that transnational civil societies as a virtual association require shared commonalities to engender the human spatial relations across geographical boundaries. The political downturn, the defiance of China’s political interference, and the demand for democracy are prerequisite collective impetuses and faiths in forging interconnectivities for the transnational civil society of Asian youths. In order to arouse the transnational identity as the mental attachment for transnational participants to this demarcated political entity, milk tea culture was rematerialized to become the ideological beacon and identity for Asian youths who collectively share the aforementioned impetuses and faiths.