This fall, threats to the hegemony of the Chinese Communist Party include Winnie the Pooh costumes and “COVID-19 enforcer costumes.”
“Shanghai police detain young people over Halloween cosplay photos,” reports Radio Free Asia (November 20, 2023).
The detentions come after photos of a number of young people appeared on social media at Halloween wearing Winnie the Pooh and COVID-19 enforcer costumes in a satirical swipe at their government, and displaying blank sheets of paper in a reference to the “white paper” movement of November 2022.
News footage and social media clips showed spontaneous street gatherings of people in Halloween costumes, including ghosts and Chinese-style corpse brides, along with some more contemporary horrors: the white-clad COVID-19 enforcers of the zero-COVID lockdowns and even Winnie-the-Pooh—a figure banned by censors due to his reported resemblance to President Xi Jinping.
All billion-plus Chinese who disagree that the Chinese Communist Party is super wonderful should simultaneously start wearing Winnie the Pooh costumes or white hazmat costumes. The state wouldn’t be able to detain all of them.
It’s not just heretical costumes that the Chinese government finds galling. It’s any imported “Western” festivals and their rituals. Even Christmas.
