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MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) late Thursday, July 16, criticized a China state-run publication’s “demeaning, dehumanizing, and racist depictions of Filipinos” that “only serve to widen the distrust between the Philippines and China.”
“The Department of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns China Daily’s publication of AI-generated videos and editorial cartoons concerning the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, including the video posted on its Facebook account on 10 July 2026. As a Chinese state-run media outlet, China Daily’s conduct goes beyond legitimate political debate and employs blatantly demeaning, dehumanizing, and racist depictions of Filipinos,” said the DFA.
It added: “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. Disagreement over legal and political issues does not justify resorting to disturbing imagery, which has no place in the civil public discourse of a responsible state.”
The July 10 video, released by state-run China Daily, centers on an anthropomorphized monkey wearing a traditional Filipino salakot and barong that is stronghanded by two arms explicitly labelled “USA” and “Japan.” The monkey, after reading off the “wrong script,” is then tossed out to sea and is hit by water cannons before it interacts with a whale who bemoans the destruction of its environment.
The one-minute video is an amalgamation of all of Beijing’s usual arguments against both the landmark ruling itself and how Manila goes about trying to implement it. China does not recognize the award, which rejected their supposed historical claim of practically the entire South China Sea, including its 9-dash or 10-dash line. The Arbitral Tribunal also found China responsible fo environmental desctruction in its rapid island-building efforts, including with the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone, among other things.
Its refusal to acknowledge the award has meant harassment against Philippine vessels, including fisherfolk aboard much-smaller wooden vessels out at sea.
“Such imagery and misinformation only serve to widen the distrust between the Philippines and China. 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,” said the DFA.
Ahead of the statement to the media and the public, the DFA had protested China Daily’s recent posts before Beiing’s ambassador to the Philippines, Jing Quan.
Manila is set to welcome next week Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as part of a week-long series of high-level meetings under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which the Philippines chairs.
In a separate statement, Philippine Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr., under sanction by Beijing, said the racist post by China Daily “is a revealing insight into what the Chinese communist apparatus thinks of the Filipino people.”
“This mockery of the lawful 2016 Arbitral Award and the video’s glorification of violence against the Filipino people and soldiers expose the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of China’s propaganda machine,” said Teodoro.
“The recent spate of schizophrenic behavior of the Chinese Communist Party is too clear to disregard or to ignore. This latest act of dehumanization further reveals them as neither a secure and confident actor nor a trustworthy neighbor,” said the Philippine defense chief, who in late May 2026 warned attendees of the Shangri-La Dialogue of China’s supposed lack of good faith in negotiations.
Who runs China Daily?
In a 2022 report, Freedom House noted: “Given the CCP [Chinese Communist Party]’s heavy control over domestic media in China, none of the Beijing-backed content providers are objective or unbiased. The party maintains tight oversight of state-owned outlets in China, especially since a bureaucratic restructuring in 2018 placed them directly under the management of its Central Propaganda Department.”
Freedom House’s report covered state-run entities like China Daily, China Global Television Network (CGTN), and China Radio International (CRI).
In the United States, China Daily’s distributor is registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. In 2020, the US State Department announced that several Chinese state-run media outlets, including China Daily, would be treated as “foreign missions,” similar to embassies and consulates, and would require additional disclosures, including disclosure of its staff, and ownership and lease of property.
“Given the CCP’s heavy control over domestic media in China, none of the Beijing-backed content providers are objective or unbiased. The party maintains tight oversight of state-owned outlets in China, especially since a bureaucratic restructuring in 2018 placed them directly under the management of its Central Propaganda Department,” said Freedom House.
The CCP structure is intimately intertwined with that of the Chinese state’s bureacracy.
Asia Society says in an FAQ about China: “[The CCP] is completely intertwined with the state system, all important positions of government are held by CCP party members, and party leadership positions always take precedence over state leaders who are theoretically at the same level. The existence of a Chinese state separate from the CCP is therefore only nominal, and the phrase “party-state” is often used to more accurately refer to the Chinese regime.”
China’s South China Sea claims
In refusing to acknowledge and even downplaying the significance of the 2016 Arbitral Award, China has often resorted to the same allegations — that it was the United States, or now apparently Japan, that is behind Manila’s bold decision to take Beijing to court.
China has also frequently tried to paint the Philippines as a polluter in the South China Sea, despite the 2016 Arbitral Award’s findings on its island-building activities and separate findings by the Philippines on what Chinese activities have done to features like Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal).
The video, then, tries to hit several birds — China’s bristling against fellow superpower the United States, its outrage of Manila and Tokyo’s decision to begin delimination talks on overlapping exclusive economic zones and continent shelves in waters east of Taiwan. China claims those waters in the same way that it claims independently-governed Taiwan, too.
“Such contemptible propaganda is a disgrace to any State that claims to exercise responsible regional leadership. It reveals the weakness of a government that resorts to racism, threats, and manufactured hatred because it has utterly failed to defend its ridiculous claims through reason, evidence, or law,” said Teodoro.
He added: “We are justified in our policy of no Ministerial or AFP defense engagements or contacts with the CCP or any of its agencies.” Teodoro, in early July 2026, recalled the Philippines’ defense attache to Beijing for what he said was a “readjusting” of postings around the world. – Rappler.com
