This guest lecture features Professor Jeffrey Wasserstrom of UC Irvine and is based on his new book titled The Milk Tea Alliance: Inside Asia's Struggle Against Autocracy and Beijing, which will be released in June 2025.

Burma is in a state of civil war. Hong Kong has changed from a place with virtually no political prisoners to one with many in a few years. Thailand is a monarchy with lèse-majesté laws. While the political situations in Burma, Thailand, and Hong Kong are radically different, many young activists and exiles from these regions feel their struggles are connected. How do these activists, each facing unique situations, find common ground and sustain one another?

Wasserstrom is a historian who has traveled globally to interview dozens of dissidents who express solidarity with one another online and on the streets, and sometimes refer to themselves as belonging to the “Milk Tea Alliance” — a nod to their shared opposition to nationalistic Beijing loyalists and the fact that their cultures' iconic drinks contain dairy, unlike mainland China’s traditional tea. In this loosely constituted alliance united by democratic values, Wasserstrom finds shared concerns over autocrats and the rising influence of a common adversary, the Chinese Communist Party.

Activists that Wasserstrom interviewed include: Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, who protested against compulsory Thai military service; Agnes Chow, co-founder of a political party now banned in Hong Kong; and Ye Myint Win (aka Nickey Diamond) who, fearing reprisal from the junta for his human rights work, fled to Germany from Burma in the early 2020s.

This talk is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided starting at 4 p.m.

About Our Speaker
Jeffrey Wasserstrom is Chancellor's Professor of History at UC Irvine, where he also serves as Director of the Honors Program of the School of Humanities and holds courtesy appointments in Law and Literary Journalism. He often writes for publications such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Atlantic, Los Angeles Review of Books, as well as for scholarly venues. His books include China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford, 2010, 2016 and 2018 editions) and he spent 10 years as editor of the Journal of Asian Studies (2008-2018).

Special Thanks
Many thanks to Pomona College Professor Eileen Cheng of the Asian Languages and Literatures Department for co-organizing this special guest talk with the Asian Library of The Claremont Colleges Library. We also thank our many donors whose continuous support of the Asian Library Innovation Fund helps make events like this possible, and our co-sponsors at Pomona College including the Departments of History and Politics, Asian Studies and International Relations Programs, and the Oldenborg Center for Modern Languages and International Relations.