The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has strongly condemned China Daily over its publication of AI-generated videos and editorial 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 issued late Thursday, July 16, the DFA said the Chinese state-run media outlet's publication, including a video posted on its Facebook account on July 10, went beyond legitimate political debate by employing "blatantly demeaning, dehumanizing, and racist depictions of Filipinos."

"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," it said.

The DFA added that disagreements over legal and political issues "do not justify resorting to disturbing imagery," saying such content has no place in the civil public discourse expected of a responsible state.

It also warned that the imagery and accompanying misinformation only deepen distrust between the Philippines and China, prompting Manila to demand that the offensive material be removed and that similar content cease immediately.

"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.

Palace ally and civic leader Jose Antonio Goitia also condemned the China Daily video, calling it “an attack on the dignity of every Filipino” rather than merely a criticism of the Philippines’ position on the West Philippine Sea.

“This video is not merely an attack on the Philippines. It is an attack on the dignity of every Filipino. No nation that claims to uphold international law and human dignity should promote propaganda that portrays another people as less than human,” he said.

Goitia linked the video to recent claims by some Chinese scholars questioning Philippine sovereignty over Batanes, saying the latest content reflected a broader effort to undermine the country’s sovereignty after those assertions were widely rejected.

“They first tried to rewrite our history. When their falsehoods collapsed before the weight of truth, geography, and international law, they turned their sights on the Filipino people. When falsehoods fall apart, propaganda grows louder. And when propaganda fails, it descends into racism,” he said.

He also urged China Daily to remove the video and issue a public apology to Filipinos.

“China Daily should immediately remove this disgraceful video and issue an unqualified public apology to the Filipino people. State-sponsored racism has no place in the community of civilized nations,” Goitia said.

Goitia maintained that disagreements over the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award should be addressed through evidence and international law rather than what he described as racist propaganda.

“A government confident in the strength of its position presents evidence. A government that resorts to racist ridicule exposes only the weakness of its own argument,” he said.