As China wrapped up three days of large-scale combat exercises around Taiwan, unofficial air force badges depicting a black bear sucker-punching Winnie the Pooh have gone viral. Pooh has often been used in popular memes to symbolize China’s President Xi Jinping and the badge seemingly represents a symbol of Taiwan’s resistance against China’s recent aggressions.
China’s military declared Monday, April 10, it is “ready to fight” after completing drills that simulated sealing off the island, as reported by The Associated Press.
The exercises this time have focused more on air strength, with Taiwan reporting more than 200 flights by Chinese warplanes over the course of the three days. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, citing the People’s Liberation Army, said the exercises simulated “waves of simulated strikes” at important targets on the island.
China’s exercises were in response to Taiwan’s president visiting the U.S. the week prior, which Beijing condemned.
China wants to regain control of Taiwan, which it views as a breakaway province that separated from China in 1949. However, Taiwan views itself as a self-ruled island and currently has its own government and constitution.
The U.S. does not formally recognize Taiwanese sovereignty. However, joint military drills nearby stirred tensions as American and Filipino forces held their largest war drills in decades near the highly disputed South China Sea. In March, China’s military said that the USS Milius, a guided missile destroyer, had “illegally intruded into China’s Xisha territorial waters without the approval of the Chinese government.” Beijing added the move threatened the “peace and stability of the South China Sea region.”
According to U.S. intelligence, China has instructed its military to “be ready by 2027” to invade Taiwan. Meanwhile, the U.S. is expanding its presence by gaining access to new military camps in the Philippines, some of which lay right across from Taiwan.
