MANILA CONDEMNS RACIST CHINESE STATE MEDIA VIDEO DEPICTING FILIPINOS AS MONKEYS
Courtesy: Department of National Defense - Philippines
The Philippine government has issued a fierce condemnation against Chinese state media following the publication of an AI-generated propaganda video that depicts Filipinos as monkeys.
The incident has triggered widespread diplomatic outrage and reignited historical sensitivities surrounding the use of dehumanizing racial tropes against the Southeast Asian nation.
AI Video Sparks Diplomatic Row
On July 10, 2026, the state-run media outlet China Daily uploaded an AI-animated video to its official Facebook page mocking the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award. The video featured a ragged monkey dressed in traditional Filipino attire—including a barong Tagalog and a salakot hat.
In the animation, the monkey is shown being manipulated by disembodied arms representing the United States and Japan. The caricature is then blasted by a water cannon from a Chinese coast guard vessel.
The response from Manila was swift and severe. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) blasted the video as "racist" and "demeaning," demanding its immediate takedown. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. also fiercely condemned the media campaign, labeling it "intellectually bankrupt" propaganda that crosses acceptable diplomatic boundaries.
A Deeply Rooted Historical Trope
The controversy has struck a painful chord in the Philippines due to the long history of the "monkey" caricature being used as a weapon of foreign subjugation.
- American Colonial Era: The trope heavily traces its roots back to the Philippine-American War (1899–1902). During this period, American political cartoons and media frequently utilized simian and paternalistic caricatures. These images were designed to portray Filipinos as uncivilized or subhuman to justify the United States' colonial occupation.
- Maritime Harassment: In contemporary decades, the term "Filipino Monkey" has also persisted as a form of anonymous harassment. Since the 1980s, the phrase has been used by unidentified radio pranksters to disrupt VHF marine communication channels, frequently targeting Filipino mariners navigating international waters like the Persian Gulf.
Cultural Contrast in Folklore
The weaponization of the animal by foreign entities stands in stark contrast to how monkeys are viewed in native Philippine culture.
In local folklore, the monkey (unggoy or matsing) is a prominent character, most famously adapted by national hero Dr. José Rizal in his fable "The Tortoise and the Monkey." Within traditional Philippine storytelling, the monkey is cast not as an object of racial inferiority, but as a clever, albeit selfish, trickster used to convey moral lessons about greed and wit.
As of mid-July 2026, tensions remain high between Manila and Beijing, with Philippine officials stating that the deployment of racist AI-generated content marks a severe degradation in state-sponsored communication
1611 - 07172026 — The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has filed a sharp diplomatic protest against Beijing following the publication of "demeaning, dehumanizing, and racist" AI-generated media by a Chinese state-run outlet targeting Filipinos.
The dispute centers on a series of editorial cartoons and artificial intelligence-generated videos published by China Daily. One video depicted the Philippines as a monkey dressed in traditional Filipino clothing. The propaganda mocked the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, portraying the country as an American and Japanese puppet forced to parrot the international ruling.
DFA Undersecretary Leo Herrera-Lim directly confronted Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan during a face-to-face meeting to demand an immediate takedown. Concurrently, the Philippine Embassy in Beijing sent a formal letter of protest to China Daily’s editor-in-chief, stating that political and legal disagreements never justify dehumanizing rhetoric.
Escalating Maritime Tensions
This media-driven row marks a new friction point in an already deeply strained relationship. Manila has filed more than 250 diplomatic protests against Beijing since 2022.
The vast majority of these actions address aggressive gray-zone activities in the West Philippine Sea. Documented incidents include:
- Water Cannon Attacks: Repeated targeting of Philippine resupply vessels near Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal).
- Laser Harassment: The use of military-grade lasers against Philippine Coast Guard crew members.
- Sovereignty Violations: The unauthorized installation of semi-permanent floating platforms and barriers at Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc).
The DFA reiterated that while geopolitical disputes remain ongoing, the weaponization of racist media severely degrades regional diplomacy and widens the trust deficit between both nations.
1037 - 07182026 | Beijing has distanced itself from a racist, AI-generated video published by state-run newspaper China Daily that portrayed Filipinos as monkeys. During a press briefing on Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry stated the clip does not represent its official government position, while simultaneously doubling down on its rejection of the landmark 2016 South China Sea arbitral award. The bulletin comes amid fierce diplomatic pushback from Manila, which filed a formal protest demanding the immediate takedown of the "dehumanizing" video.
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