MANILA, Philippines — In a dramatic escalation of diplomatic friction, China, through its foreign ministry, refused to apologize over the controversial "monkey" video which, it said was "independent of government policy" despite its release by a state-run media organization.
In a press briefing, Lin Jian, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), did not comment on the substance of the China Daily video that has been citculating on social media platforms but said that the animated clip "did not represent the government position" and was outside his mandate to provide an official reaction.
Lin, however, took advantage of the briefing to double down on Beijing's long-standing geopolitical grievances regarding the South China Sea.
"China's position on the issue of the South China Sea arbitration is clear and consistent," Lin said, reiterating Beijing's view that the historic 2016 international arbitral ruling was "a political farce masquerading as a legal process" and declaring the tribunal's award "illegal, null and void, and has no binding force."
The video: 'Outright racism' and simulated violence
The diplomatic firestorm stemmed from an AI-generated video posted on July 10, 2026, on the official Facebook page of China Daily, an English-language newspaper owned directly by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party.
The animated propaganda piece featured a monkey wearing traditional Filipino national attire. In the video, the caricature is depicted acting blindly on orders from the United States and Japan, being struck by a high-pressure water cannon, and discarding the 2016 international arbitral ruling into the garbage labeled as "litter."
The video drew condemnation from the government and non-government sector, prompting the filing of a diplomatic protest by the Department of Foreign Affairs late this week. The release of the video coincided with the release of the landmark arbitral ruling that favored the Philippines over China.
Manila demands immediate takedown, slams 'moral bankruptcy'
The diplomatic protest followed a tense, face-to-face meeting on Thursday evening where Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Leo Herrera-Lim directly confronted Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan and demanded the immediate removal of the video.
In a scathing public statement, the DFA declared that the state-run outlet had crossed a dangerous line in international communication: “As a Chinese state-run media outlet, China Daily's conduct goes beyond legitimate political debate and employs blatantly demeaning, dehumanizing, and racist depictions of Filipinos. We draw a firm line at the depiction of Filipinos as monkeys… which is deeply offensive, distressing, and unacceptable.”
The DFA added that legal and political disagreements "do not justify resorting to disturbing imagery, which has no place in the civil public discourse of a responsible state," warning that such tactics only "widen the distrust" between the two neighbors.
