'Stupid Monkey': Chinese State Media Uses AI Video to Mock Filipinos Over Arbitral Ruling

(SPOT.ph) We wish we were making this up: Chinese state-run newspaper China Daily published an AI-generated video showing the Philippines as a monkey, complete with a barong tagalog and a salakot, as it was forced to sing on a karaoke stage.

In a strongly worded statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) condemned China Daily for the “demeaning, dehumanizing, and racist” portrayal of Filipinos—not to mention its continued attacks on the 2016 arbitral ruling over the West Philippine Sea.

"The Philippines has consistently rejected false narratives and distortions regarding the Arbitral Award and the Philippines' lawful positions in the South China Sea. But we draw a firm line at the depiction of Filipinos as monkeys," the DFA said. "Disagreement over legal and political issues does not justify resorting to disturbing imagery, which has no place in the civil public discourse of a responsible state."

The Philippine Embassy in China also sent an open letter directly to China Daily’s editor-in-chief on July 17, demanding that it take down the material.

The video came out just days before the 10th anniversary of the Philippines’ landmark legal victory over China in the West Philippine Sea. On July 12, 2016, an international tribunal ruled that China had no legal basis for claiming most of the disputed waters—a decision Beijing still refuses to recognize.

Also read: China Tried to Stop West Philippine Sea Documentary at New Zealand Film Festival

Uploaded on July 10, “Litter on Waves: Failed Maritime Karaoke” shows the monkey performing aboard a ship while two arms marked with the flags of the United States and Japan tell it what to sing. The character starts singing about pursuing maritime boundary negotiations without China. A voice interrupts: “Wrong song! Stupid monkey! We gave you the other lyrics!”

The monkey then pulls out a paper marked “South China Sea Arbitration,” after which the two arms throw it into the water. A vessel resembling a Chinese coast guard ship proceeds to blast the monkey with a water cannon.

At the end of the video, the paper marked “South China Sea Arbitration” floats toward a whale, which mistakes it for trash before telling the monkey to help “keep the ocean clean.”

Accompanying this AI-generated video is a short description from China Daily: “The louder certain Philippine politicians sing, the further they stray from the truth. Ten years on, the so-called South China Sea arbitration award remains no remedy for peace, but a source of confrontation dressed up as law. The Philippine Politicians’ Karaoke Show lays bare the farce: by clinging to external forces and stirring up trouble in the South China Sea, they are turning their country into a pawn in someone else’s geopolitical game.”

As of writing, the AI-generated video is still available on China Daily.

Also read: West Philippine Sea or South China Sea? The Difference Matters