TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Photos surfaced on Monday (Sept. 26) showing packages of Japanese black tea that include a Winnie the Pooh doll, prompting Taiwanese mockery of China's Chairman Xi Jinping's (習近平) alleged house arrest and swift blocking by Chinese censors.

That day, members of the Facebook group Baofei Commune (爆廢公社) posted images of the latest Kirin Afternoon Tea plush doll figure set featuring Winnie the Pooh. Over the weekend, rumors spread by Indian media speculated that Xi had been ousted in a coup and was placed under house arrest.

However, there have not been any credible reports of a coup actually taking place in Beijing or of Xi being placed in detention, other than possibly undergoing home quarantine after his trip to Central Asia the previous week. Nevertheless, Taiwanese netizens joked that the Poohs inside the bottles were meant to commemorate Xi's capture.

Before much discussion on the products could take place on Weibo, keyword phrases such as Winnie the Pooh Afternoon Black Tea were quickly blocked by Chinese censors. The cartoon character has been banned in China for years because of joking comparisons of Xi to the chubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff.

Poking fun at his alleged arrest, a Taiwanese netizen humorously swapped Xi's name with a homophonic version, "習進瓶," meaning "Xi enters the bottle." Others made comments such as "House arrest of Xi Jinping," "It seems that the mainland will ban sales again," and "This is an insult to China!"

(Facebook, Baofei Commune photo)

(Weibo screenshot)