Student activist Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal and members of the Humanity Beyond Borders group went to the Chinese Embassy on 3 June and handed out cookies to passers-by as part of their commemoration event for the 31st anniversary of the 4 June 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Humanities Beyond Borders at Yaowarat China Town (Photo from Humanity Beyond Borders)
The group said that the cookies were milk tea-flavoured because of the recent Twitter trend in which Thai, Taiwanese, and Hong Kong netizens came together and used the hashtag #MilkTeaAlliance to show solidarity against Chinese influence in their countries as well as against what China has done against Tibet and against the Uyghur people.
The patterns on the cookies depict Tiananmen Square and the famous “Tank Man” picture, with “Tiananmen 1989” written in Chinese. The packaging also includes a QR code linking to information about the Tiananmen Square massacre and the Tank Man.
The cookie packaging has a QR code at the back link to information about the Tiananmen Square massacre (Photo from Humanity Beyond Borders)
The group also went to Yaowarat China Town and the Siam BTS Station. Netiwit said that the police did not come to stop their activity, but while they were in front of the Chinese Embassy, a security guard came to stop them from organizing their event in front of the Embassy itself, so he gave the guard a cookie.
A security guard inspecting the cookie box (Photo from Humanity Beyond Borders)
“A crime committed by the state should not be forgotten, and citizens who fought for democracy and freedom should receive reparations and respect, not kept a secret so that the Chinese people do not know the truth. We would like the Chinese Embassy to know that the Thai people are unhappy with their threats against our Mekhong River and their persecution of the Tibetan people, the Uyghurs, and the people of Hong Kong,” said Netiwit.
Netiwit previously filed a request to hold a commemoration event in front of the Embassy, which he said would have involved participants standing with flags and protest signs, but his request was denied by the police under Article 9 of the Emergency Decree.
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