- China recently carried out large-scale military drills around the self-ruling island of Taiwan.
- Amid this, Taiwan's defense ministry published a photo of a patch worn by fighter pilots.
Taiwan's defense ministry recently published an interesting photograph of Taiwanese airmen inspecting an aircraft while neighboring China carried out large-scale military drills in the area. The photo featured a unusual dig at Beijing.
At first glance, the picture may look somewhat routine, but a small, albeit very noticeable, patch on one pilot's arm shows Winnie the Pooh getting punched in the face by a bear — a not-so-subtle jab at Chinese President Xi Jinping.
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 unofficial air force patch is a variation of a years-long meme involving the cartoon created by the English author A. A. Milne.
Imagines of Winnie the Pooh have been circulating around Western and Chinese social media as a meme for nearly a decade. The cartoon is used by critics of Xi in a derogatory sense, the joke being that the Chinese leader somewhat resembles the fictional teddy bear in appearance. Chinese sensors have in the past made attempts to shut down circulation of the meme, even going as far as to scrub social media sites of negative discussion about Xi.
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.
Patch designer Alec Hsu told Reuters he started selling the item at his shop in 2022 but saw a marked increase in orders after Taiwan's military published the photos over the weekend. "I wanted to boost the morale of our troops through designing this patch," he said. It's been purchased by military personnel and civilians alike.
"Where can we get a patch like that! Guaranteed to be best sellers!" Taiwan's main representative office in the US wrote Sunday on social media.
Tensions between Taiwan and China have been running high in recent days following a trip last week by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to the US, where she met with lawmakers, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Her visit stoked ire in Beijing, with China's defense ministry calling it "provocative." In response, China on Saturday began three days of military drills that included the encirclement of Taiwan and involved Chinese fighter jets, missile boats, naval destroyers, long-range rocket artillery, bombers, and more.
China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command even shared a video examining how a full-scale assault against Taiwan would play out, showing possible missile trajectories coming from the Chinese mainland and warships. Beijing's defense ministry said the war games — dubbed "Joint Sword" — are meant to be a "stern warning" to Taiwan, which sharply criticized the exercises.
"We condemn such an irrational act that has jeopardized regional security and stability. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and tasked CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond these activities," Taiwan's defense ministry wrote in a statement posted to social media.
China has long considered Taiwan to be an inseparable part of its own territory, and Beijing has in recent years intensified its military pressure on the small island of 23 million people. Experts have said that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would plunge the world economy into chaos and devastate all militaries involved.