People in Taiwan are buying anti-Xi Jinping badges depicting Winnie the Pooh being punched by a Formosan black bear.
Taiwan’s air force pilots are wearing the badge as a symbol of defiance against China, which has been conducting military drills around the island.
Winnie the Pooh has been used to represent — and criticise — the Chinese President Mr Xi for years.
As a result, Chinese officials have censored images of the cartoon bear.
But how did the comparisons start?
When did comparisons between Xi Jinping and Winnie the Pooh begin?
Xi Jinping has been compared to Winnie the Pooh since 2013 when he visited the US.
An image of him walking with then-US president Barack Obama sparked comparisons between them and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger.
#Chinese government blocks meme that compares Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh and #Obama to #Tiger! pic.twitter.com/HsP0RQ03DA
— Alfredo Medellín (@AlfredoMedelln) June 16, 2013
Memes comparing the president and the cartoon bear then began circulating on social media.
His likeness to the bear came up again in 2014, when an image of Mr Xi with Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, sparked comparisons between the world leaders and Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore.
Trending on Weibo: Abe as Eeyore and Xi as a smug Pooh #APEC pic.twitter.com/lx53FzkVzu
— Deirdre Bosa (@dee_bosa) November 10, 2014
Then, in 2015, a side-by-side photo comparison of the Chinese president during a parade and a toy of Winnie the Pooh in a car was banned. It was later declared China’s most censored photo of 2015, according to Global Risk Insights.
Chinese social media users were also blocked from posting references to Winnie the Pooh in 2017.
Now, 10 years after the original meme was created, China is reportedly continuing to block references to the bear.
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
In March, screenings of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey were cancelled in Hong Kong.
Although officials didn’t give a reason for pulling the film, there is speculation that the screenings were cancelled due to Chinese censorship, which has previously targeted films starring the AA Milne character.
In 2018, the censors banned the release of the Christopher Robin film.
