The Philippines strongly condemned state-run China Daily for releasing an AI-generated video that depicted Filipinos as monkeys, saying ⁠the “racist” imagery is “offensive, distressing and unacceptable” and drawing a firm line against dehumanising propaganda.

Manila demanded that the video posted on China Daily’s Facebook account on 10 ⁠July be ⁠taken down. The ​Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The video portrayed a monkey dressed in Filipino attire being ⁠directed by arms representing the US and Japan on what to sing. After being called “stupid”, the monkey pulled a sheet of lyrics bearing the words “South ⁠China Sea arbitration award” before being thrown into the sea and blasted by a vessel’s water cannon.

Philippine ​defence secretary Gilberto Teodoro denounced the material ‌as “contemptible propaganda” and “a disgrace ‌to any State that claims to exercise responsible regional leadership.” He said the episode exposed “the weakness of ‌a government that resorts to racism, threats, and manufactured hatred because it has utterly failed to defend its ridiculous claims through reason, evidence, or law”.

“This mockery of the lawful 2016 Arbitral Award and the video’s glorification of violence against the Filipino people and soldiers expose the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of China’s propaganda machine,” Teodoro said late Thursday.

China Daily’s AI-generated video was ‌posted on 10 July, coinciding with Philippine events marking the 10th anniversary of a landmark arbitral ruling that invalidated China’s sweeping claims in the South China ​Sea. Beijing rejects the ruling.