In brief
In the wake of a China Daily AI‑generated clip that shows a monkey in a Filipino shirt, the Philippine foreign and defence ministries blasted the content as racist propaganda. The video, which depicts the Philippines as a meek monkey pushed onto a karaoke stage by U.S. and Japanese flags, was posted on 10 July and highlighted the country’s disputes with China over the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal. Philippine officials demanded removal of the clip and warned that such imagery deepens mistrust. The incident comes just after a decade‑old arbitration ruling in favour of the Philippines that China has dismissed as lacking jurisdiction.
Philippines decries China‑made monkey video as racist propaganda
A China Daily‑posted AI video, featuring a monkey wearing a Filipino shirt and being pushed onto a karaoke stage by flags of the United States and Japan, has been condemned by Manila as dehumanising, racist and a form of propaganda aimed at sowing distrust between the two neighbors.
The clip, which appears to mock Philippine sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal, was posted on 10 July and has been criticised by foreign and defence ministers as a blatant insult to the nation’s dignity.
Both the foreign ministry and defence ministry demanded that the footage be removed from all platforms, citing that “such imagery has no place in the civil public discourse of a responsible state.” Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro called the clip “contemptible propaganda” that exposes the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of China’s propaganda machine.
The controversy comes at a time when tensions in the South China Sea have escalated, with China’s coast guard repeatedly using high‑pressure water cannons against Philippine vessels in the disputed shoals and a floating barrier erected at Scarborough Shoal in June – an action that was later removed after diplomatic protests from Manila.
The Philippines is currently at the center of a decade‑old arbitration case in The Hague that ruled in its favour, confirming that China’s extensive territorial claims are unlawful under international law. Beijing, however, has dismissed the tribunal’s authority, citing lack of jurisdiction.
