The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has blasted China Daily for posting AI‑generated videos and cartoons depicting Filipinos as monkeys in connection with the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, calling the material “racist, dehumanizing, and unacceptable.”
In a statement late Thursday, July 16, the DFA said the Chinese state‑run outlet crossed the line of political debate with “blatantly demeaning, dehumanizing, and racist depictions of Filipinos,” including a video uploaded to its Facebook page on July 10.
“The Philippines has consistently rejected false narratives and distortions regarding the Arbitral Award and the Philippines’ lawful positions in the South China Sea. But we draw a firm line at the depiction of Filipinos as monkeys in the 10 July 2026 video, which is deeply offensive, distressing, and unacceptable,” the DFA stressed.
The agency added that disputes over legal and political issues “do not justify resorting to disturbing imagery,” saying such content has no place in civil public discourse.
It warned that the offensive depictions and accompanying misinformation only deepen distrust between Manila and Beijing, and demanded the immediate removal of the material and an end to similar content.
“The Philippines demands that the offensive material be taken down, calls for the immediate cessation of such irresponsible content, and urges China to uphold dignity, respect, and truth in public discourse,” the DFA said.
The statement came a week after China Daily posted a video ahead of the 10th anniversary of the July 12, 2016, arbitral ruling that invalidated China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea, showing a monkey dressed in a barong Tagalog and salakot being instructed by characters resembling the United States and Japan before being sprayed with a water cannon while holding the arbitral award.
Earlier, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. denounced the video as racist propaganda, saying it revealed “what the Chinese communist apparatus thinks of the Filipino people” and exposed the “moral and intellectual bankruptcy of China’s propaganda machine.”
Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela, likewise condemned the post, saying racism has no place in modern society and declaring that “Filipinos are not monkeys.”
The latest protest adds to growing tensions between Manila and Beijing following the 10th anniversary of the landmark arbitral award, which the Philippines continues to uphold as final and legally binding despite China’s continued rejection of the ruling. (Argyll Geducos)
