The Philippine government has formally lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing regarding a state media video that depicts the Philippines as a cartoon monkey. The move follows the release of a video on the China Daily Facebook page, which Manila officials condemned as “racist” and “dehumanizing.” This latest friction occurs amid a long-standing territorial dispute between the two nations over overlapping maritime claims in the South China Sea.
Foreign Undersecretary Leo Herrera-Lim communicated the Philippines’ formal objection during a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Manila Jing Quan on Thursday, according to a statement from the foreign department. The Philippine government demanded the immediate removal of the content, asserting that such depictions are inconsistent with the mutual respect expected between sovereign states and undermine the stability of bilateral relations.
The video in question features a monkey dressed in a traditional Filipino barong shirt on a boat, engaged in a karaoke sequence. In the footage, the character is presented alongside imagery related to the South China Sea Arbitration Award, which is then dismissed in the narrative. The video concludes with the character being launched into a water cannon—a tactical tool previously documented in confrontations between the Chinese Coast Guard and Philippine sailors and fishermen.
This is outright racism and an open mockery of international law — portraying the Philippines as a monkey and dismissing the Arbitral Award as nothing more than a script written by the US and Japan. pic.twitter.com/zXZ8MptzIu— Jay Tarriela (@jaytaryela) July 16, 2026
Official Condemnation from Manila
The Philippine government has characterized the video as a departure from legitimate political discourse. In an official statement, the foreign department noted that the material resorted to “demeaning, dehumanizing and racist depictions of Filipinos.” The Philippine embassy in Beijing has also issued a formal demand to the editor-in-chief of China Daily for the immediate takedown of the video.
Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro issued a sharp critique of the publication, stating that the video’s “glorification of violence against the Filipino people and soldiers exposes the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of China’s propaganda machine.” Teodoro further argued that the content reveals a lack of confidence from the Chinese side, labeling the state media’s actions as inconsistent with the behavior of a “trustworthy neighbour.”
In Beijing, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on the specific video, stating that the content “does not represent the official position” of the Chinese government.
Broader Context of Maritime Tensions
The incident coincides with the tenth anniversary of an international arbitration ruling, which determined that Beijing’s expansive claims in the South China Sea lacked a legal basis. The Philippines marked the decade-long milestone of this ruling by issuing a joint statement with 13 other nations, including Japan and the United States, reaffirming that the arbitration award remains legally binding.
Beijing has consistently rejected the 2016 ruling, characterizing it as invalid. Following the release of the joint international statement, Chinese officials labeled the move a “distortion of the facts” intended to vilify China’s position in the region. The territorial dispute has seen escalating tensions, including the use of water cannons during encounters between the two nations’ coast guard vessels.
Diplomatic relations have remained strained for several months. Last month, Beijing imposed sanctions on Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, prohibiting him from entering mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macau following his public criticisms of China’s maritime activities. Earlier in the year, China also filed a diplomatic protest against the Philippine Coast Guard regarding social media posts made by Commodore Jay Tarriela, which featured satirical imagery of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Next Steps in Diplomatic Relations
As of this writing, there have been no reports that the video has been removed from the China Daily social media platforms.
The situation remains a significant point of contention in Southeast Asian geopolitics.
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