Philippines government slammed a Chinese media outlet for an AI‑generated video that depicts the country as a monkey, calling it dehumanising and racist.
The clip shows a monkey in a Filipino shirt being shoved onto a karaoke stage on a boat, with American and Japanese flags bearing arms, and pushed into the sea by a water cannon.
The incident follows escalating tensions in the South China Sea, where Philippine and Chinese vessels have confronted each other in the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal.
The Philippine foreign ministry demanded the clip be removed, adding that such imagery deepens distrust between the two countries, and that it is inappropriate for civil public discourse.
The defence ministry called the video contemptible propaganda, “exposing the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of China’s propaganda machine.” Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said the Chinese Communist Party’s recent behaviour was too obvious to ignore.
The video, posted on 10 July, remains on China Daily’s Facebook page.
A decade ago, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in favour of the Philippines, declaring China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea lack legal basis, a ruling Beijing has ignored.
Recent actions by China—including installing a floating barrier at Scarborough Shoal in June and barring Canadian defence secretary, his family from entering mainland China—have further inflamed the dispute.
China Daily’s caption repeated Beijing’s stance, describing the arbitration award as a “source of confrontation dressed up as law” and calling the Philippines a pawn in a broader geopolitical game.
Other viral clips from China Daily mock the Philippines’ actions in the South China Sea, depicting Manila as a clown and a snake. Chinese authorities have yet to respond.
