The Villa Villa Cafe and Bar in Hong Kong published a photo of a custom cake it baked for a customer this week depicting American presidential candidate Joe Biden sniffing the hair of a distressed cartoon girl drawn in the Japanese anime style.
The Asian outlet Coconuts, which highlighted the bizarre cake order, described the image of Biden as one of “a handsy pedophile.” Though there is no evidence Biden is a pedophile, he has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women and has a reputation for being overly affectionate, even with children.
Coconuts translated the Chinese text on the cake as reading, “Warmly celebrate Uncle Biden for his election as the 46th US president.”
Villa Villa Cafe and Bar advertised the cake as available in multiple flavors and noted on their page that the photos printed on the cake are edible. Among the flavors listed are coffee, triple chocolate, almond walnut, and rose.
The image appears to be a reference to the reputation that Biden has developed of inappropriate or “creepy” behavior towards young women. Since his days as senator, reporters have photographed Biden sniffing the hair or neck of various women and girls, as well as appearing to touch them inappropriately. The Washington Post referred to Biden in 2015 as a “creepy uncle.”
Biden has also fielded several accusations of sexual assault, the most prominent being that of a woman named Tara Reade, who claimed that, while as a staffer for Biden in the 1990s, Biden digitally raped her in a hallway. Reade was the eighth woman to accuse Biden of sexual assault when she shared her version of the story in 2020.
Another woman, Lucy Flores, described being “mortified” during an encounter with Biden while he was vice president.
“I felt him get closer to me from behind. He leaned further in and inhaled my hair. I was mortified. I thought to myself, ‘I didn’t wash my hair today and the vice-president of the United States is smelling it. And also, what in the actual f*ck?'” Flores said.
Biden has dismissed accusations of inappropriate touching and sexual assault by insisting that it is his way of making “a human connection” and that it is his “responsibility” as a politician to do so. He has publicly joked about accusations of inappropriately touching children.
Coconuts noted that the Hong Kong protest movement has identified Villa Villa as a “yellow shop,” meaning that its owners support the pro-democracy movement against China. Hong Kong has experienced waves of regular protests attracting millions of people in the past year, opposing increased interference in Hong Kong affairs by China.
Hong Kong is officially part of China but governed under the “One Country, Two Systems” policy, which prevents Beijing from imposing Communist Party laws on the city. In exchange, Hong Kong cannot declare itself sovereign from China. The protests began last year when the Hong Kong Legislative Council (LegCo) attempted to pass a law that would have allowed China to extradite anyone present in Hong Kong if accused of Communist Party crimes.
The protests triggered extreme police brutality against otherwise peaceful protesters and global sanctions, including many supported by the United States. This May, the National People’s Congress (NPC), Beijing’s rubber-stamp legislature, passed a “national security” law that allows China to prosecute anyone in Hong Kong for crimes such as “subversion of state power.” While NPC laws applying in Hong Kong is a violation of “One Country, Two Systems,” Hong Kong police have enforced it.
The “yellow shop” system emerged as police attacks on peaceful protesters resulted in property damage and many protesters sought safe locations to flee to. Hong Kong protesters also sought to help businesses that supported their cause. Through word of mouth and custom Google Maps, protesters put together a “yellow economic circle” and attempted to help those businesses. Protesters also boycott “blue shops” — businesses that support the Hong Kong police and the Chinese communists.
President Donald Trump has supported the protest movement, signing an executive order to sanction repressors in the city in March and signing the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act last year, which passed in Congress with bipartisan support. The Hong Kong protest movement has reciprocated this support. The Trump administration also revoked special trade status for the city, which was contingent upon it not being governed by communism. Last year, protesters held a “Thanksgiving” rally in appreciation of the Hong Kong Act, waving American flags and holding up photos of Trump. Interviews with dissidents in the city in early November indicated that many hoped to see Trump win a second term in office.
Villa Villa appears to cater to pro-Trump Hong Kong protesters. Two weeks ago, it published a photo of another custom cake its bakers had created, using a photo doctored to make Trump look like a champion boxer.
Last week, the cafe’s Facebook page also published a photo of what appeared to be a pork chop that resembled Trump.
The bar has not avoided criticizing Trump, however, more recently reposting a Trump Twitter post declaring victory in the election and adding a clown emoji.