A punch in the face for Xi caricature: Taiwan air force badge goes viral | CNN
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Reuters — 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