The Philippines denounces a racist video from China Daily showing a Filipino monkey

The Philippine government has officially condemned an AI-generated video published by China Daily that depicts the Philippines as a humiliated monkey in the South China Sea. The video, posted online on July 10, remains accessible on the Chinese state media outlet's Facebook page.

A monkey dressed in a Philippine shirt, pushed onto the stage by arms displaying American and Japanese flags, holding up a sheet of paper mentioning the arbitration ruling on the South China Sea before being thrown into the sea and sprayed with a water cannon: this is the content of the video published by China Daily that triggered the anger of Manila.

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs called the depiction "dehumanizing and racist," demanding the immediate removal of the video. "Disagreement on legal and political issues does not justify the use of disturbing images, which have no place in the civil public discourse of a responsible state," the department said, adding that "such images and misinformation only serve to widen mistrust between the Philippines and China."

The Philippine Department of Defense was more direct, calling the video "despicable propaganda" that revealed "the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the Chinese propaganda machine." Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro referred to "recent schizophrenic behavior by the Chinese Communist Party that is too obvious to ignore."

The publication comes ten years to the day after the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines, concluding that Beijing's sweeping claims in the South China Sea had no basis in international law. China rejected the decision, challenging the court's jurisdiction.

China Daily, for its part, accompanied the video with a commentary reaffirming Beijing's position: "Ten years later, the so-called arbitration ruling on the South China Sea is not a remedy for peace, but a source of confrontation disguised as law." The media outlet accuses the Philippines of becoming "a pawn in someone else's geopolitical game."

This video is part of a series of recent Facebook posts by China Daily, which also depict Manila as a clown or a snake. Chinese authorities have not responded to protests from the Philippines.

Tensions between Beijing and Manila have escalated considerably in recent years around the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal, located about 160 kilometers from the Philippines and some 800 kilometers from China. Chinese coast guard vessels regularly use water cannons against Philippine ships in these disputed waters, causing damage and injuries. In June, Beijing installed a floating barrier at the entrance to Scarborough Shoal, which was removed after formal diplomatic protests from Manila, and barred Defense Secretary Teodoro and his immediate family from entering mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.