A diplomatic row between Manila and Beijing deepened on Saturday as more Philippine officials demanded a public apology from China over an artificial intelligence-generated video released by state-run newspaper China Daily that depicted Filipinos as monkeys, calling the material a racist attack that had no place in relations between sovereign states.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier lodged a diplomatic protest against the 10 July video, which used AI-generated animation to ridicule the Philippines and the landmark 2016 arbitral ruling on the West Philippine Sea. 

The video portrayed a monkey dressed in a Barong Tagalog and salakot, imagery that Philippine officials said crossed the line from political messaging into racial discrimination.

Senator JV Ejercito condemned the AI-generated video, saying its reliance on racial stereotypes reflected China’s inability to defend its maritime claims on their merits.

“While it is deeply offensive, resorting to racism by portraying a monkey dressed in Philippine national attire — a Barong Tagalog and salakot — only reveals their inability to defend their claims based on merit,” Ejercito said.

He described the production as “AI slop” meant to provoke outrage and spread misinformation rather than encourage informed discussion.

“This kind of content only fuels prejudice, distorts facts, and deepens division,” he said, adding that China should “accept reality and move on” because the 2016 arbitral award is “final and binding.”

Senator Risa Hontiveros called on the Chinese government to issue a public apology, saying the video violated the basic standards of respect that should govern relations between nations.

“We completely and unequivocally reject China’s racist propaganda. We Filipinos should never be caricatured and stripped of our humanity because of our nationality,” Hontiveros said in a statement.