Beijing treads carefully when scions of Thai political dynasty arrive in China in search of their roots
- Chinese censors set to work after exiled Thai leaders visit Guangdong
- Low-key reception demonstrates how sensitive relations with kingdom are
Former Thai prime ministers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra may have been made very welcome in southern China at the weekend when they visited the homeland of their ancestors, but Beijing was a little more circumspect, censoring media coverage of their visit and underscoring how China treads carefully where Thai politics are concerned, analysts said.
Brother and sister Thaksin and Yingluck arrived at Taxia village in Fengshun township, Meizhou, Guangdong province, in search of their roots on Saturday. They are fourth-generation Chinese immigrants in Thailand and descended from a family of Hakkas.
Yingluck posted video of their arrival on her Instagram account on Sunday, complete with a caption that said: “Chinese people flocked to welcome Thaksin and Yingluck, who came to pay respect to their Chinese ancestors.”
In the video, the sister and brother get out of a black car accompanied by an entourage of men in black suits. Chinese residents were eager to press flesh with the pair, while Yingluck and Thaksin smiled and chatted.
They also visited their clan’s relatives in the village and then worshipped ancestors at the village ancestral hall, Nfplus, a state-backed mobile news app operated by Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily, reported.
Their great-grandfather, Seng Saekhu, left Guangdong in the 1860s for what was then Siam.
While a resident told the South China Morning Post that the local government had prepared for “prominent Thai” visitors, mainland media and online social media that published photos and video of the visit that day had deleted it by Sunday afternoon.