Xi Jinping has been matched up with yet another friend from the Hundred Acre Wood with Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam being compared recently to Piglet.
Yesterday morning, Xi and Lam attended the opening ceremony for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, entering the event together, walking side by side. Xi, of course, has long been likened to Winnie the Pooh, for an alleged resemblance. Meanwhile, thanks to her pink suit, Lam was likened to Winnie’s dearest friend.
Lyrist Leung Pak-kin first made the comparison on his Facebook page. His post has now been shared more than 1,000 times.
In the comments underneath the post, netizens shared more images comparing Lam to Piglet. In one posted by Leung, Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui is likened to Eeyore as well.
It’s too early yet to tell if the Carrie Lam-Piglet comparisons will stick. Xi has long been likened to Winnie the Pooh, beginning with an outdoor stroll he took with US President Barack Obama at the Sunnylands Estate in California back in 2013 where the two world leaders reminded Chinese netizens of another set of BFFs.
Similarly, in 2014, Chinese net users couldn’t help but evoke Winnie the Pooh when satirizing an extremely uncomfortable handshake between Xi and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe.
Xi apparently doesn’t appreciate the comparisons of himself to the lovable, if slow-witted and chubby, cartoon bear. Every now and again, Winnie the Pooh gets banned on Chinese social media and many believe that the live-action Christopher Robin film didn’t get a China release because of Xi’s sensitivities.
In aLast Week Tonightsegment in June, host John Oliver brought up this fact, adding: “Clamping down on Winnie the Pooh comparisons, doesn’t exactly project strength. It suggests a weird insecurity [in Xi].” After the segment aired, Oliver’s name was alsocensored on Weiboand HBO’s website wasblocked in China.
