MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Saturday dismissed Beijing’s assertion that an AI-generated China Daily video portraying Filipinos as monkeys was not a government act.
Teodoro said the Department of National Defense (DND) was unconvinced by the explanation given by China’s Foreign Ministry.
“It’s a state-sponsored video. So, that’s hard to believe. China Daily is state-sponsored, and nothing comes out of China without their government’s permission,” Teodoro, speaking Filipino, told reporters on the sidelines of the Ilokano Dialogue on the West Philippine Sea in Batac, Ilocos Norte.
“At the defense department, we won’t just take it at face value,” he added.
Teodoro was responding to remarks made on Friday by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian, who said the video was “not an act of the government” when asked about the Philippines’ condemnation of the material and its call for it to be taken down.
“About the video you mentioned, this is not an act of the government. I have no comment on that,” Lin said during a regular press briefing.
He nevertheless reiterated Beijing’s rejection of the 2016 South China Sea arbitral award.
READ: Beijing: China Daily video ‘not an act of the government’
Lin reiterated Beijing’s position that the 2016 South China Sea arbitration was a political process disguised as a legal one. He said China considers the arbitral award illegal, null and void, and without binding force.
The Department of Foreign Affairs earlier lodged a diplomatic protest over the AI-generated video and related editorial cartoons published by China Daily, saying the materials contained “demeaning, dehumanizing, and racist depictions of Filipinos.”
It also demanded that the content be taken down.
The 58-second video, posted on July 10, portrayed Filipinos as monkeys while mocking the Philippines’ victory in the 2016 South China Sea arbitral award.
READ: PH: China video shows its ‘moral bankruptcy’
The video has drawn condemnation from Philippine officials, including the Department of National Defense, the National Security Council, the Philippine Coast Guard and the National Maritime Council, as well as several lawmakers.
Earlier this week, Teodoro described the video as “a revealing insight into what the Chinese communist apparatus thinks of the Filipino people.”
“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 in an earlier statement.
Teodoro also said the incident reinforced the government’s policy of having “no ministerial or AFP defense engagements or contacts with the CCP or any of its agencies.”
The July 12, 2016 arbitral ruling invalidated China’s sweeping claims over nearly the entire South China Sea and affirmed the Philippines’ sovereign rights and maritime entitlements within its exclusive economic zone.
Beijing refused to participate in the arbitration initiated by Manila in 2013 and continues to reject the ruling. /jpv
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