A Taiwanese black bear punches Winnie the Pooh in the face. This is the air force’s patriotic emblem, in a humorous choice for Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is making waves.
The badge worn by some pilots sends a defiant message to Xi, who is often mocked for looking like the cartoon bear.
“It’s great. It’s the happiest of the past few days,” netizen Mark Sasha Liang said on Facebook. Chen Kai-chu, another social media user, suggested using the badge to “pass through Chinese customs”.
One photo in particular, of an Air Force pilot inspecting a fighter jet, immediately caught the attention of social media users, who saw on the sleeve of the aviator jacket an image of a Formosan black bear waving a flag and hitting Winnie the Pooh.
But more badges were discovered among pilots.
Two of the badges feature the word “scramble”. [que pode significar subida ou atropelo] at the bottom one of them also proclaims “we are open 24/7”.
Punching Pooh: Unofficial Air Force emblem wildly popular in Taiwan.
Patriotic badges showing Winnie the Pooh being punched in the face by a Taiwanese black bear – a humorous dig at Chinese leader Xi Jinping – have gone viral across the self-governed islandhttps://t.co/S5pz91Sum5 pic.twitter.com/RWlACsp8nF
— AFP Press Agency (@AFP) April 11, 2023
A third badge designed last year shows a Taiwanese fighter pilot hitting a panda, the national symbol of China.
Seeing the images, Taiwanese flocked to buy the Winnie the Pooh badges, which come from Wings Fan Goods in Taoyuan City, east of the capital Taipei, where they are already sold out.
“It’s so famous that my friends on the other side of the Pacific are asking me about it,” Mob Liu said on Facebook.
The social network was flooded with requests, some even from the United States. “Please replenish new stock,” said a user identified as Abigail Eileen. Sepfry Ng asked, “Can you ship overseas? To Hong Kong?”
A Facebook seller said he had received about 1,000 orders since the image went viral on Saturday. Most orders come from Taiwan, but there are also some from China.
“The people of Taiwan are disgusted by China’s over-the-top military exercises after the Tsai-McCarthy meeting, so this pilot badge sparked discussion,” said the seller, who asked to be identified by his trade name, Wizardgeo. “The people support the army in defending our sovereignty,” he stressed.
Source: DN
