BANGKOK, Thailand -- A vicious, hilarious, political war has erupted
on the Internet between Thailand's satirical dissidents and China's
outraged nationalists, prompting the Chinese embassy in Bangkok to
complain, apparently in vain.

"The recent online noises only reflect bias and ignorance of its
maker(s), which does not in any way represent the standing stance of
the Thai government nor the mainstream public opinion of the Thai
People," a Chinese embassy spokesperson insisted on its official
Facebook page.

"The scheme by some particular people, to manipulate the issue for the
purpose of inflaming and sabotaging the friendship between the Chinese
and Thai people, will not succeed," the embassy's 372-word statement
on April 14 said in English, Thai and Chinese.

The Internet battle also attracted activists in Hong Kong, Taiwan and
elsewhere, mostly cheering Thailand's mischievous jokes, insults,
political stabs, and pop art memes against China.

"Perhaps we can build a new kind of pan-Asian solidarity that opposes
all forms of authoritarianism!" wrote Hong Kong's famous pro-democracy
activist Joshua Wong.

Wong urged people to "stand with our freedom-loving Thai friends".

Beyond the hatred spewed by trolls on all sides, the most imaginative
chatter spiraled around attempts to promote democracy in Thailand and
China.

Thais ingeniously absorbed the punches of pro-Beijing defenders, who
thought they were winning by mocking Thailand's repressive political
system.

Chinese rants against Bangkok's politics unveiled the Thais' strongest
weapons -- self-deprecating jokes.

Thais agreed with Chinese badmouthing Bangkok's lackluster leaders --
which ultimately seemed to defeat the Chinese.

"Looking back, Thailand doesn't seem to have any great history,"
someone identified as Daheee tweeted, implying China's ancient
civilization was more profound.

"Yeah we dont have history and we dont have any future too,"
GyGyfightCovid responded, defusing the Chinese comparison by agreeing
that Thailand's military coups and current lopsided elected government
were not ideal.

More to the point, memes jokingly quoted the Chinese Communist Party
(CCP) saying: "Your Government Sucks."

An anonymous Thai responded: "SAY IT LOUDER."

"CCP: Your prime minister stupid"

"Thai: Yes, He is, thank you"

Other posts were totally street:

"How much is it for your mother to sleep with a white man for one
night?" a Chinese tweeter asked Thais.

Pax @pattanan1402 replied: "Much more expensive than the Chinese that i fucked."

Another said:

"CCP: you lady man country"

"Thai: It gets better with dick"

Citizens of various countries around the world, including Asia, often
battle each other online such as the insanely twisted clashes between
Hindus in India and Muslims in Pakistan.

More obscurely, Lao-American males sometimes taunt and denounce
Caucasians who lust for females from Laos and elsewhere in eastern
Asia.

The Internet's newest war is symbolized by nnevvy, the Instagram
nickname for a Thai model, Weeraya Sukaram.

Chinese netizens vented anger that she allegedly retweeted a claim
that China spawned COVID-19 and silenced investigators.

To intentionally flood the Internet, someone added a hashtag to her
nickname, creating the uncontrollable #nnevvy which could then be seen
on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and other sites and publicly commented
upon.

When the online feud evolved into Thais describing Taiwan and Hong
Kong as countries, instead of united with China, the verbal abuse by
Chinese and Thais went ballistic.

"Both sides attacked each other's governments, political systems,
music, hygiene, looks, races, foods, ethnicities, freedom -- or lack
thereof -- you name it," Thailand-based columnist Voranai Vanijaka
reported.

"Of the over two million tweets on #nnevvy, the majority are riddled
with anger, but look carefully and you will find voices from both
sides that speak out for freedom," Voranai said.

As of April 16, the Chinese embassy's statement had attracted more
than 17,000 responses on Facebook and countless more on Twitter.

One popular response, in English and Chinese, exposed China's lack of
free speech by listing politicized words that Beijing censored online:

"Free Tibet, The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, The Tiananmen
Square Massacre, The Anti-Rightist Struggle, The Great Leap Forward,
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, Human Rights,
Democratization, Freedom, Independence, Multi-party system, Taiwan
Formosa, Republic of China, Tibet, Dalai Lama, Falun Dafa, The
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Nobel Peace Prize, Liu Xiaobo,
Winnie the Pooh."

That last phrase confused Akun Kebrayoran Pop who asked: "Winnie the Pooh?"

Yenni Kwok clarified: "Winnie the Pooh is the nickname for [China's
leader] Xi Jinping"

Akun responded: "And the government recognize that to the point they
ban that word?"

A complex American-made meme which had circulated online for years --
and always uses a cartoon template comparing a "The Virgin" and "The
Chad" -- was quickly updated to satirize the Chinese-Thai brawl.

The cartoon portrayed a skinny, obedient, pro-Beijing Chinese man
wearing China's national flag as an armband, compared to a muscular,
carefree Thai man wearing a T-shirt with colored stripes of his
country's flag.

The cartoon said the Chinese man's "CCP memes are unoriginal like
counterfeit chinese goods" and believes "Democracy is flawed! while
thinking communism is flawless."

The Virgin Chinese also complains of "racism, but is ok with forcing
African people to quarantine for no reason" and becomes "Butthurt over
anything that insults China."

The "proud Thai" meanwhile has a "Good sense of humor," "Can form
their own opinions," "Delivers firey insults," and "Doesn't give a
shit about any insults thrown over their government or country."

The Chad Thai is also "well educated about their government's crimes,"
"Stands with Hong Kong, Taiwan, Uygur, and Tibet," and "Isn't paid to
hate CCP."

One Thai post tried to clarify the root of the problem and said the
quotes that sparked the war "didn't actually say that Covid is from
Wuhan's lab nor China is intentionally make the virus.

"The tweet just pointed out how many kinds of viruses are kept in
Wuhan's lab, and just raised a question that before blaming US's for
the covid, they should allow Wuhan's lab to be investigated so the
tweet hasn't concluded anything yet."