Model Weeraya Sukaram’s coronavirus comment sparks Twitter war between Thais and Chinese nationalists
- An online spat began after Weeraya shared a Twitter message questioning whether the virus originated in a Chinese lab
- The row united pro-democracy campaigners in Asia against pro-Beijing users, with insults and mocking memes flying
Political analysts and activists said the online row, which started at the weekend, was unique in volume and regional spread 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.”
Related Twitter hashtags generated more than two million tweets and trended globally. A fan page for the main hashtag, #Nnevvy, has more than 63,000 Facebook followers.
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 fuelling the fire, Chinese accounts then accused Weeraya’s boyfriend, Vachirawat Cheevaari, of having once liked a post that identified Hong Kong as a country – again a no-no for Beijing.
Despite his apology, they called for a boycott of his hit TV show.
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Related hashtags on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo resulted in more than 4.64 billion views and 1.44 million posts.
Comments on Twitter were mostly posted in Chinese, Thai and English, though some were in Malay and Tagalog.
Wong posted a photo watching Vachirawat’s show and urged Hong Kong to “stand with our freedom-loving Thai friends”.
“Perhaps we can build a new kind of pan-Asian solidarity that opposes all forms of authoritarianism!” he wrote.
“The hashtag provided an opportunity to speak up,” Netiwit said.
China’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the implications of the social media quarrel.
Twitter is blocked in China and only accessible for those using virtual private networks or with official approval.
Social media consultancy Drone Emprit found that automated bot accounts were using the #Nnevvy hashtag but it did not say where they came from. Reuters found that several pro-China accounts had been created in the last few days and only contained comments on the dispute.
“While #Nnevvy started off as an intense overnight Twitter war between Thailand and China, it’s now turned into meaningful diplomatic engagement with Hong Kong and Taiwan,” said Tracy Beattie of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
Thailand’s government was aware of the social media battle between Thai and Chinese accounts and it urged Thai internet users to express themselves within reason, said deputy government spokeswoman Ratchada Thanadirek.
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.
“Thailand is poor, but China is Pooh,” read one viral tweet.
On a lighter note, another meme celebrated Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan as a “Milk Tea Alliance” because of a shared fondness for the iced drink.