Thai PM Anutin Serenades China's Li Qiang With Teresa Teng
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- Anutin Charnvirakul sang a Teresa Teng classic for Chinese Premier Li Qiang at a formal lunch in Beijing on July 20, with footage showing Li and other guests clapping along to piano accompaniment in front of Thai and Chinese flags.
- Earlier in July, Anutin played the saxophone while Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim sang Sinatra's "My Way."
- During a June visit to Hanoi, Anutin performed alongside local musicians on a Vietnamese instrument in front of Vietnamese PM Le Minh Hung.
- Anutin, who took office in September before winning February elections, is a scion of a construction dynasty who also plays piano and the Thai flute and is a hobbyist jet pilot.
- Anutin recently performed with a Thai teenager who went viral for a rocking performance on America's Got Talent.
Why it matters: Anutin has converted a personal hobby into a repeatable soft-power gesture across at least three Asian capitals in roughly two months, distinguishing Thailand's diplomatic brand under a PM who only formally secured his electoral mandate in February. The Beijing lunch set, with its Teresa Teng pick, taps a cross-strait cultural touchstone that frames China-Thailand ties in warm, human terms rather than transactional ones.
