Philippines objects to Chinese AI video mocking nation as monkey
A Chinese media post circulated an AI‑generated clip that portrayed Filipinos as a timid monkey, labelled by the Philippine government as racist and dehumanising. The clip, released on China Daily’s Facebook page on 10 July, shows a monkey in a Philippine shirt being shoved onto a rickety karaoke stage on a boat, then pushed into the water by a water cannon.
The Philippines’ foreign ministry demanded the clip be removed, stating that such imagery only serves to widen distrust between Manila and Beijing. Defence officials described the clip as “contemptible propaganda” and criticised it as evidence of China’s propaganda machine’s moral bankruptcy.
The incident comes amid a decade of tensions in the South China Sea, where China’s expansive claims clash with Philippine sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal. Beijing has repeatedly ignored the 2016 arbitral award from the International Court of Justice, which found China’s claims to lack legal basis.
In recent weeks, China has installed a floating barrier at the entrance to Scarborough Shoal, removed it after Philippine protests, and barred Philippine defence minister Gilbert Teodoro from entering China, Hong Kong and Macau.
China Daily’s caption to the monkey clip condemned the arbitration award as “no remedy for peace” and accused the Philippines of turning its own country into a pawn in an opposing geopolitical game.
The photo below shows the Monkey clip’s depiction of a Philippine sailor in a bright blue shirt.
Image source: Reuters
