From the July-August 2021 issue of News & Letters
by Michael Sladnick
The picture on the right is Kyal Sin. She was 19 years old when she was shot in the head and killed for protesting against the military coup in Myanmar (Burma). And on the left is Khant Nyar Hein, an 18-year-old medical student who was beaten to death the day the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar urged the regime to take more effective measures against protests. These are the people who inspired me to devote my time and energy to supporting the Spring Revolution in Myanmar and the Milk Tea Alliance.[1] Something else they have in common is they were both ethnic Chinese.
CCP’S DEADLY HYPOCRISY
The dictatorship in China is the loudest voice insisting that we should stay out of other countries’ affairs, yet they are the main backers of the coup regime in Myanmar and of a growing number of other authoritarian states around Southeast Asia and beyond.
In the 21st century there is no such thing as non-interventionism—the only question is whether intervention will take the form of solidarity with the oppressed or support for those who are killing people, the oppressors.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) advocates for the idea that different nationalities and ethnicities and religions have distinct interests and separate destinies. Yet we see people of Chinese heritage at the forefront of the fight for the rights of all people around the world, inspiring millions everywhere.
The struggle against the CCP’s racist vision and the struggle against white supremacy in the U.S. go hand in hand. The fight for social justice in the U.S. will remain hollow unless we also stand with those fighting the worst injustices abroad.
The Milk Tea Alliance shows us the way forward.
The coup regime in Myanmar thinks it can suppress the revolution the same way the CCP did in Hong Kong. But we will use our democratic rights to support the people of Myanmar in their determination to fight, no matter how long it takes. The CCP thinks it has won in Hong Kong just because large scale protests ended during the COVID pandemic. But it will be our determination to continue standing with the people of Hong Kong, even in the most difficult times, and our efforts to jump on every opportunity to renew the revolution there, that will one day inspire the Chinese people themselves to rise up against their oppressors. And then we will stand with them too, and will fight side by side as a common humanity. This is the only alternative to the barbarism and danger of imperialist war which is currently plaguing the world.
Kyal Sin – Say Her Name! Khant Nyar Hein – Say His Name!
June 16, 2021
[1] According to Wikipedia, “The Milk Tea Alliance is an online democratic solidarity movement mainly made up of netizens from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, and Myanmar (Burma). It was originally started as an internet meme, created in response to the increased presence of Chinese nationalist commentators on social media and has evolved into a dynamic multinational protest movement against authoritarianism and advocating democracy. Aside from the four main countries mentioned, the movement has also established a significant presence in South Korea, the Philippines, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Belarus and Iran.”