Taiwanese Fighter Pilot Patch Punches China’s Xi In The Face

ANALYSIS – In information warfare, a picture (or in this case a patch) is worth a thousand words. And what an image it is.

Taiwan’s defense ministry recently published a photograph of Taiwanese fighter pilots inspecting their jets as Communist Chinese (CHICOM) armed forces carried out threatening large-scale military drills nearby.

So, what’s so special about the photo?

It shows an unofficial patch on the Taiwanese pilot’s arm with a black bear representing Taiwan punching Winnie the Pooh in the face.

The endangered Formosan black bear is seen as a symbol of Taiwanese identity. Taiwan was previously better known internationally as Formosa.

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, is widely ridiculed as looking like Winnie the Pooh.

Taiwan’s unofficial, de facto embassy in the United States tweeted the photo, asking “Where can we get a patch like that! Guaranteed to be best sellers!”

Business Insider explains:

On the patch, Winnie the Pooh — who is holding a pot of honey with five stars like the Chinese flag — is being punched by an angry Formosan black bear holding Taiwan’s flag. Above that image, text reads “We are open 24/7,” and below it, the text says “Scramble!”

The news outlet added:

The specific patches worn by the Taiwanese fighter pilots represent a symbol of defiance from the self-ruling democratic island against neighboring China, with the phrase “Scramble” referring to the deployment of jets against routine Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone.

Another similar patch with a blue background replaces “We are Open 24/7 with “Fight for Freedom.”

The creative information operation by Taiwan comes as China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command shared a video describing a potential full-scale assault against Taiwan.

The video brazenly showed possible missile trajectories coming from China and from warships in the Taiwan Straits.

The Chicom defense ministry proclaimed that the war games (‘Joint Sword’) were meant to be a “stern warning” to the independent democratic island.

But this patch shows that Taiwan isn’t easily intimidated. And has a sense of humor.

As a reminder, the thin-skinned Chinese autocrat hates the comparison to Pooh bear so much he banned the Winnie the Pooh movie in 2018.

Chinese censors banned the release of “Christopher Robin,” a new adaptation of the Winnie the Pooh story, The Hollywood Reporter noted at the time.

As The Guardian reported in 2018, the phenomenon began “when Xi visited the US in 2013, and an image of Xi and then president Barack Obama walking together spurred comparisons to Winnie – a portly Xi – walking with Tigger, a lanky Obama.”

“Xi was again compared to the fictional bear in 2014 during a meeting with Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who took on the part of the pessimistic, gloomy donkey, Eeyore.”

The Guardian added that: “As comparisons grew and the meme spread online, censors began erasing the images which mocked Xi.”

Despite the censorship, memes likening Xi to the portly Pooh continue to pop up in China to mock the country’s leader.

And Taiwan is expertly rekindling the Xi-Pooh derision with the photo of this new patch.

Alec Hsu, who designed the patch, and owns Wings Fan Goods Shop, has been selling it at his store since last year, but he saw a big spike in orders after Taiwan’s military news agency published the photo on Sunday.

“I wanted to boost the morale of our troops through designing this patch,” said Hsu.

And it has. Demand for the patch is booming among military officers and civilians alike.

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.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

READ NEXT: Sen. Tim Scott Announces 2024 Presidential Exploratory Committee