Chinese Dragon Stamp Accused of 'Scaring' the World

U.K's Telegraph reports, "Chinese have reacted angrily to a special edition stamp to celebrate the Year of the Dragon that depicts the iconic creature as a fearsome creature."

According to Peter Simpson in Beijing, "Scores of collectors and social commentators have complained about the ferocious-looking 2012 dragon. Some have sarcastically claimed it should be adopted as the motto of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which has recently been accused of bullying China's neighbours and unnerving the wider international community."

He goes on to say, "Officials from China Post and the artist commissioned to design the stamp, Chen Shaohua, rebuffed the criticism, telling the state media the threatening, attacking pose of the mythical dragon should be interpreted as China's new found confidence."

The president of the Chinese Philatelic Research Society, Zhou Zhihua, is quoted as saying the Chinese are used to seeing "milder animals" on their annual New Zodiac Year postage stamps.

"However, sellers at a philatelic market in Beijing were reporting bumper pre-sale orders, with eager collectors paying up to £18 for a commemorative pack of the 12 penny stamps which go on sale on Thursday," writes Simpson.

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