Taiwanese people are rushing to buy patches being worn by their air force pilots that depict a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh — representing China's President Xi Jinping — as a defiant symbol of the island's resistance to Chinese war games.
China began three days of military drills around Taiwan on Saturday, a day after the island's president, Tsai Ing-wen, returned from a brief visit to the United States, where she met U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy despite Beijing's warnings.
Chinese censors have long targeted representations of Winnie the Pooh — created by British author A.A. Milne — over internet memes that compare the fictional bear to China's president.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.