Taiwanese 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 leader Xi Jinping – as a defiant symbol of the island’s resistance to Chinese military exercises.
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 US 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 leader.
Alec Hsu, who designed the patch, has been selling it at his shop since last year, but he saw a spike in orders after Taiwan’s military news agency on Saturday published a photo of the patch on the arm of a pilot inspecting a fighter jet.
“I wanted to boost the morale of our troops through designing this patch,” said Hsu, who owns Wings Fan Goods Shop.
Hsu said he has ordered more patches to meet the increased demand. Customers have included military officers and civilians.
The patch shows an angry Formosan black bear holding Taiwan’s flag and punching Winnie the Pooh, with the slogan “Scramble!” – referring to what the island’s pilots have had to do with increased frequency over the past three years as China sends more aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone – a self-declared buffer that extends beyond the island’s airspace.
The endangered Formosan black bear is seen as a symbol of Taiwanese identity. Taiwan was previously better known internationally as Formosa.
“Where can we get a patch like that! Guaranteed to be best sellers!” Taiwan’s de facto embassy in the United States wrote in a tweet on Monday.
Taiwan’s air force told Reuters that while it does not “particularly encourage” its members to wear the patch, which is not a part of their uniform, it “will maintain an open attitude” to anything that raises morale.
China’s Communist Party claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory despite never having controlled it and has not ruled out taking the island by force. Tsai’s government rejects China’s sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.
Source: cnn
