Background
Censorship in China
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses extensive censorship. For instance, the Chinese government has censored topics regarding the Cultural Revolution and CCP Chairman Mao Zedong, the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, human rights in Tibet, persecution of Uyghurs, and Taiwan independence. [4]
The Chinese government's censorship, which was initially limited to the mainland, is now spreading to other regions, such as Taiwan. For instance, in 2017 Taiwanese universities were asked to refrain from discussing sensitive issues in class, including unification/independence or "One China, One Taiwan". Due to the financial benefits of fee-paying mainland students, over 80 of 157 universities agreed to the demands, which compromised their academic independence. [4]
Comparisons between Xi Jinping and Winnie the Pooh
Chinese Internet users have compared General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh: the comparisons serve to satirize Xi's publicly projected image. Xi attempts to portray himself as serious, whereas Winnie-the-Pooh is a comedic cartoon character for children. [1]
Comparisons between the cartoon character and Xi Jinping date back to 2013, when the Chinese leader visited Barack Obama in the United States. An image of the two leaders walking was immediately compared to that of the bear and his friend Tigger. The humorous tone on social media that day was repeated on other occasions with other leaders, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who Internet users saw as having a reasonable resemblance to Eeyore In 2014, the sad donkey that is also part of Winnie-the-Pooh's adventures. Very reluctant to permit any humorous comment about Xi, authorities ended up condemning the bear when some political activists and dissidents used it to express their discontent. [5]
The Chinese government has blocked images and mentions of Winnie the Pooh on social media because Internet users have been using the character to mock CCP general secretary Xi Jinping. This is part of a larger effort to restrict bloggers from getting around censorship in China. [1] Notably, the 2018 film Christopher Robin was not shown in China and there have been speculations that it may had been due to censorship. However, some analysts argued the decision may have been unrelated to political concerns, citing China’s annual quota of 34 foreign films in the Chinese market. Additionally, the 2011 theatrical release Winnie the Pooh also did not screen in China—predating both the controversy and Xi Jinping’s general secretaryship. [6] [3] The government is not only concerned with avoiding the ridicule of its leaders but also with preventing the character from becoming an online euphemism for the CCP general secretary. [1]
Disneyland Shanghai
In 2018, according to Business Insider News, China ordered that the Winnie the Pooh theme could be banned and replaced with a new one due to censorship of internet memes. [7] However, in 2023, Winnie the Pooh-themed rides remain operational with no official ban. [8] [9]
In May 2021, a performer dressed up as Winnie-the-Pooh in Shanghai Disneyland was beaten by a child tourist. Mass media in China used the term "Pooh Pooh Bear" (Chinese: 噗噗熊) in reports about this incident because the word "Winnie" has been censored. However, search results of "Pooh Pooh Bear hurt in Shanghai Disneyland" were censored on Weibo after this incident happened. [10] [11]
Others
When Xi visited the Philippines, protestors posted images of Pooh on social media. [12] Other politicians have been compared to Winnie-the-Pooh characters alongside Xi, including Barack Obama as Tigger, Carrie Lam, Rodrigo Duterte, [13] and Peng Liyuan as Piglet, [14] and Fernando Chui and Shinzo Abe as Eeyore. [15]
Some dissidents such as Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia were photographed holding Pooh mugs as an act of protest. [16]
Hong Kongers used costumes and masks of characters such as Winnie the Pooh when protesting against the Chinese government during Pro-democracy. [17]
In January 2020, a Chinese student was arrested and jailed in China six months after posting a picture comparing Xi to the cartoon character while studying in the United States. [18]
Cultural impact
In June 2018, HBO late-night talk show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver was blocked in China after it spoke about Xi Jinping and censorship of the media in China including comparisons between Xi and Pooh. [19]
In November 2018, the character was blurred out of the Chinese version of a trailer for Kingdom Hearts III . [20] However, the same site that the trailer was posted on later uploaded a screenshot of the same trailer unedited. [21]
In February 2019, the Taiwanese video game Devotion was found to have contained an Easter egg comparing Xi Jinping to Pooh two days after the game's release. As a result, Devotion was heavily review bombed by Chinese gamers on Steam, and the game went from having "Overwhelmingly Positive" reviews overall to being "Mostly Negative". [22] The game was removed from Steam in China on 23 February. [23] In July 2019, the Chinese government revoked the business license of Indievent, the original publisher of the game in China. The official statement from the government stated that the revoking was due to violating relevant laws. [24]
In March 2019, Pooh's Chinese name (Chinese: 小熊维尼; lit. 'little bear Winnie') has been censored from video games such as World of Warcraft , PUBG: Battlegrounds and Arena of Valor from overwatch. [25]
On October 7 2019, Pooh was featured in the South Park episode "Band in China" as a prisoner In China, because of his alleged resemblance with Xi. In the episode, Pooh is brutally killed by Randy Marsh. South Park was banned in China as a result of the episode. [26] [27]
On October 16 2019, YouTuber PewDiePie uploaded an episode of his Meme Review series, in which he reacted to memes about the Internet Memes Between Pooh And Xi. Shortly after, PewDiePie reported his content had been banned in China. [28]
In 2021, it was reported the developers of Cyberpunk 2077 had utilized the tag "Winnie the Pooh" for media and content within the game's source code intended to be censored according to guidelines in China. [29]
In 2022, Diablo Immortal was delayed with publications speculating that this was due to an alleged, since-deleted post from the account making reference to "Winnie the Pooh" after China banned Immortal's Official Weibo account due to "violating related laws and regulations". [30] NetEase delayed the launch from June 23 to July 25 in China. [31]
In March 2023, Movie distributor VII Pillars Entertainment announced on Facebook that Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey , originally scheduled to be released on 23 March, would be cancelled for release in the Hong Kong and Macau regions. This move is suspected to be influenced by the amendment of Hong Kong's film censorship regulations in 2021, which prohibits the public screening of movies that are deemed "potentially harmful to national security". However, VII Pillars Entertainment did not provide any explanation for the decision. [32]
In April 2023, the Taiwanese Air Force released an image of a Taiwanese pilot. The pilot was wearing a shoulder patch depicting a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh. The badge was designed by Alec Hsu in 2022. After the photo went viral, Hsu ordered more patches due to its popularity with civilians and the military alike. "I wanted to boost the morale of our troops through designing this patch," he told the media. The patch is not an official part of the Taiwanese Air Force's uniform, although the military "will maintain an open attitude" to things that raise morale. [33] [9]
On 5 January 2025, Marvel Video Game Marvel Rivals reportedly banned the phrase "Winnie the Pooh" from chat and showed the message "Text contains inappropriate content" if a player attempts to do so. This is because the developer NetEase is a Chinese company in partnership with Marvel. [34]
On 28 January 2025, ChatGPT and DeepSeek apps replied to queries about Winnie the Pooh with "Sorry, that's beyond my current scope, let's talk about something else" due to DeepSeek did not provide answers to questions about certain political events. [35]
