ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Lazaro, Wang to meet on ASEAN sidelines amid 'racist' Monkey video

Lazaro, Wang to meet on ASEAN sidelines amid 'racist' Monkey video

Published Jul 20, 2026 11:20 am

At A Glance

  • Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are set to hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Manila this week.
  • ASEAN 2026 Philippines Spokesperson Dominic Xavier Imperial said the meeting is expected to cover bilateral relations and regional developments but declined to disclose its agenda.
  • The talks come days after the Philippines lodged a diplomatic protest over China Daily's publication of AI-generated videos and editorial cartoons depicting Filipinos in a racist manner.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are set to meet on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Manila this week. (DFA/ASEAN 2026/AP photos)
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are set to meet on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Manila this week. (DFA/ASEAN 2026/AP photos)

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM) in Manila this week, days after the Philippines formally protested China Daily's publication of racist content depicting Filipinos.

In a press briefing, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 2026 Philippines Spokesperson Dominic Xavier Imperial confirmed that Lazaro will meet Wang during the series of ASEAN-related meetings, but declined to say whether Manila's protest over the controversial China Daily video would be discussed.

"I have knowledge that the Secretary will have a meeting with the Foreign Minister of China, but as regards their discussions, of course, I don't want to preempt what they will discuss," he said Monday, July 20.

According to Imperial, the meeting would be significant because it would cover not only bilateral relations between the Philippines and China but also regional issues affecting ASEAN.

"We believe that this engagement is very important because not only will it address—or not only will it cover—the bilateral relations between the Philippines and China, but it will also have something to do with... the impact of what's happening globally to the region, to ASEAN," he said.

ASEAN-China engagement

Imperial also confirmed that Wang will attend this week's ASEAN meetings, including the ASEAN-China Post-Ministerial Conference, which he described as an important platform for ASEAN and China to discuss areas of cooperation despite existing bilateral issues.

He said the ASEAN-China meeting would provide "a very good venue" for both sides "to discuss together how they can cooperate, how they can move forward on identifying mutual interests that they want to pursue under this framework," while leaving bilateral concerns to be addressed separately by individual countries.

Imperial added that the South China Sea Code of Conduct negotiations would remain part of the ministers' discussions during the ASEAN meetings.

China Daily protest

The meeting comes after the DFA formally protested China Daily's publication of AI-generated videos and editorial cartoons depicting Filipinos in a racist and dehumanizing manner in connection with the 10th anniversary of the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award.

The DFA said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Leo Herrera-Lim raised the issue directly with Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan on July 16 and demanded the immediate removal of the offensive materials before Manila lodged a formal diplomatic protest and the Philippine Embassy in Beijing sent a similar demand to China Daily's editor-in-chief.

The controversy centered on a July 10 video posted by the Chinese state-owned media outlet showing a monkey dressed in a barong Tagalog and salakot while mocking the Philippines' legal victory in the landmark arbitral ruling.

The video drew condemnation from Philippine officials, including Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., who described it as racist propaganda; Cabinet Secretary Benhur Abalos, who said Filipinos deserve to be treated with dignity and respect; and Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela, who declared that "Filipinos are not monkeys."

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting and related meetings run from July 20 to 24 in Manila, bringing together foreign ministers and senior officials from ASEAN member states and dialogue partners, including China, the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Australia, and the European Union.

Related Tags

DFA ASEAN Dominic Imperial Ma. Theresa Lazaro Wang Yi PH-China China Daily
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ static_articles_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.