In no region is China’s influence felt more strongly than in South-East Asia

LAST YEAR a remarkable if informal confederacy formed online across Asia, in scarcely the time it takes to boil a kettle: the Milk Tea Alliance. Its members were young activists, mostly in South-East Asia. All had disparate agendas at home. But they united in pushing back at a perceived growing menace—authoritarian China’s overweening presence in the region.