Late Tuesday evening United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted out a rather innocuous photo of his dog, Mercer, “and all of her favourite toys.”

While the tweet featuring a chewed-up Winnie-the-Pooh plushie appears harmless on first glance, it is something that could have Chinese President Xi Jinping fuming.

Mercer and all of her favorite toys! 🐶 pic.twitter.com/bGal0ui6E2

— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) July 15, 2020

Throughout Hong Kong, Taiwan, and even mainland communist China, countless memes comparing the puffy faced Chinese leader and the dim-witted cartoon bear are relentlessly shared.

The delicate communist regime was so self-conscious over the ridicule that they actually banned Christopher Robin’s loveable red shirted bear from the whole country.

Which bear will Xi Jinping ban next? #SayHisName Winnie the Pooh and get banned in China! pic.twitter.com/q2WiSsPX0L

— Nick Short (@PoliticalShort) October 14, 2019

Following the nationwide ban, the cartoon bear transformed from simply mocking Xi to mocking everything about the brutal communist regime – a little lighthearted fun. References of the likeness appeared in Taiwanese video games, much to the triggering of gamers supportive of the Chinese president. 

Although ambiguous, Pompeo's tweet will no doubt make waves in China; a message likely heard loud and clear by the Chinese Communist Party whose relationship with the United States has been steadily decaying in recent years.