MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Thursday condemned a social media video posted by Chinese state-run media China Daily depicting Filipinos as monkeys, calling it racist propaganda that reflects how Beijing views the Filipino people.
The video, which circulated on Facebook, mocked the 2016 arbitral award in the South China Sea. It used AI-generated animation portraying monkey-like Filipinos confronting Chinese characters and included scenes of violence against the Filipino figures.
“The post of China Daily depicting the Filipinos as monkeys, is a revealing insight into what the Chinese communist apparatus thinks of the Filipino people,” Teodoro said in a statement.
READ: DFA demands removal of China Daily video depicting Filipinos as monkeys
The defense chief said the video mocked the Philippines’ legal victory and glorified violence against Filipinos and Filipino soldiers.
“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,” he said.
Teodoro said the post underscored the government’s policy of suspending ministerial-level and Armed Forces of the Philippines defense engagements with the Chinese Communist Party and its agencies.
“We are justified in our policy of no Ministerial or AFP defense engagements or contacts with the CCP or any of its agencies,” he said.
He also accused Beijing of resorting to “racism, threats, and manufactured hatred” because it had “utterly failed to defend its ridiculous claims through reason, evidence, or law.”
Calling the video an act of “dehumanization,” Teodoro said it showed China was “neither a secure and confident actor nor a trustworthy neighbor.”
The defense chief ended his statement with a warning in Filipino: “Philippines, do not be deceived! Those who are deceived are oppressed.”
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, waters in the western portion of the country’s 370-kilometer EEZ.
It also continues to ignore a 2016 ruling by an international arbitral tribunal that nullified its claims and upheld Manila’s sovereign rights over these waters.
The Department of Foreign Affairs likewise denounced the video and called for its removal.
As of posting time, China Daily and the Chinese Embassy in Manila had yet to publicly respond to the defense department’s statement. /das
The post Teodoro slams China Daily video depicting Filipinos as monkeys appeared first on Inquirer.net.
