Taiwan Pilot Wears Patch Punching Winnie-the-Pooh During China Drills

Demand has skyrocketed for a shoulder patch that shows Winnie-the-Pooh being punched in the face after a Taiwanese fighter pilot wore the design—an apparent dig at Chinese leader Xi Jinping—during China's recent military drills around the island.

The uniform accessory caught the eye of Taiwan's public and observers abroad after Taipei's Military News Agency published the photograph on April 9, on day two of the Chinese exercises. The picture showed a pilot performing preflight inspections of his IDF fighter aircraft at an undisclosed air base.

Pooh Bear merchandise is sold in China, where Shanghai Disneyland also operates themed rides. But the fictional character's likeness and name are restricted on the Chinese internet because Pooh has been used as a caricature of China's president.

From April 8-10, China, which claims Taiwan as its own, deployed large numbers of fighter jets and warships around the island to express its displeasure at House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's decision to host Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen for talks on U.S. soil last week.

Shoulder patch designer Alec Hsu, who runs a military goods store out of Taoyuan in northern Taiwan, told local media that he created the piece, and others, last year after China conducted war games around the island in response to a visit in August by California Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who was serving as speaker of the House at the time.

Hsu's design shows a Formosan black bear waving a Taiwan flag and punching Pooh in the face above the word "scramble!" One version of the patch says "fight for freedom," while a second includes the words "we are open 24/7."

Another patch shows a Taiwanese fighter pilot slapping a panda, a Chinese national symbol. It was modeled on Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars last year.

The shopkeeper, a military enthusiast who retired from Taiwan's air force, said he made the patches to boost morale amid increasing Chinese military pressure. But he didn't know his customers included service members until he saw the photograph.

Hsu, who sells the patches on various e-commerce sites, said his work isn't related to Taiwan's armed forces. Taiwan's air force told Reuters that it doesn't "particularly encourage" its members to wear the patch, but said it would remain open-minded about any morale-boosting initiative.

Hsu said he ordered more patches from manufacturers to meet the surge in demand. Orders have come from both civil society and the military, he said. And there was even an inquiry from the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. embassy in Taipei.

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