China Daily crossed the line when it released an AI-generated video depicting Filipinos as monkeys.

This was the assertion made by Dr. Jose Antonio Goitia, chairman emeritus of Alyansa ng Bantay sa Kapayapaan at Demokrasya (ABKD) and the Filipinos Do Not Yield Movement (FDNY), as he pointed out that "racism has no place in a civilized world."

"There are lines no responsible institution should ever cross. Racism is one of them. The video did more than challenge the Philippines' position on the West Philippine Sea. It demeaned the Filipino people. Whatever message it sought to convey, its outcome was unmistakable. It was racist propaganda that used artificial intelligence to ridicule an entire people," Goitia explained.

"Every Filipino should reject this—not because it criticized our government, but because it demeaned our people. Racism has no place in diplomacy, responsible journalism, or relations between civilized nations," he added.

"This video is not merely an attack on the Philippines. It is an attack on the dignity of every Filipino. No nation that claims to uphold international law and human dignity should promote propaganda that portrays another people as less than human," Goitia stressed.

The timing, he added, "is equally difficult to ignore."

"Only days earlier, several Chinese scholars advanced the baseless claim that Batanes belongs to China. Philippine officials, historians, and the public quickly dismantled the claim. The study was eventually withdrawn after widespread criticism," Goitia further explained.

"They (China) failed to rewrite our history. So they turned their sights on the Filipino people instead. They first tried to rewrite our history. When their falsehoods collapsed before the weight of truth, geography, and international law, they turned their sights on the Filipino people. When falsehoods fall apart, propaganda grows louder. And when propaganda fails, it descends into racism," Goitia pointed out.

According to him, the West Philippine Sea is protected by international law, and the 2016 Arbitral Award remains an important pillar of the rules-based international order.

"China is free to disagree with the arbitral ruling. But there is a profound difference between contesting a legal decision and demeaning an entire nation," Goitia pointed out.

"A government confident in the strength of its position presents evidence. A government that resorts to racist ridicule exposes only the weakness of its own argument. Propaganda may attract attention, but it can never replace the truth," he added.

"Filipinos are not monkeys. We are a free and sovereign people. We are the descendants of men and women who fought colonizers and built a Republic through courage and sacrifice. China may produce propaganda, but it will never define who the Filipino people are. Our dignity cannot be mocked. Our sovereignty cannot be questioned," Goitia said.