How did that come about, as far as I can tell there is no negative connotation with Winnie the Pooh... a traditional cartoon character loved by children
Following a meeting of Xi and Obama in 2013, the image below comparing Winnie the Pooh and Tigger with Xi and Obama went viral on US alt-right forums and social media circles accompanied by references to Obama using a derogatory racial term (Hint: the term rhymes with Tigger).
When this image was found to be banned by Chinese censors, Western media went wild with the easily disproved falsehood that Winnie the Pooh is banned in China for its likeness to Xi Jinping while completely ignoring the original contexts in which the banned image was used in.