Philippines condemns China Daily video portraying Filipinos as monkeys
What's new: Manila demanded the Jul. 10 post be removed, calling it racist amid wider South China Sea tensions.
The Philippines condemned an AI-generated video posted by China Daily that portrayed Filipinos as monkeys, calling the imagery racist and unacceptable. Manila said the Jul. 10 video, posted on China Daily's Facebook account, dehumanized Filipinos and glorified violence by showing a monkey in Filipino clothing mocked, thrown into the sea and blasted by a vessel's water cannon. The foreign ministry demanded the post be taken down. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro called it contemptible propaganda and linked it to China's rejection of the 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated Beijing's broad South China Sea claims. The clash adds to already strained ties marked by repeated confrontations at sea and disputes around Scarborough Shoal.