The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday distanced the government from a contentious video produced by the state-owned outlet China Daily that depicted Filipinos as monkeys, even as Beijing doubled down on its rejection of the 2016 South China Sea arbitral decision.
During a routine press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stressed that the animated clip was not an official state initiative.
“About the video you mentioned, this is not an act of the government,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during his regular press briefing.
“I have no comment on that,” he added.
Despite separating the government from the viral broadcast, Lin reiterated Beijing’s entrenched opposition to the international tribunal’s ruling, which was handed down ten years ago.
“China’s position on the issue of ‘South China Sea arbitration’ is clear and consistent. The ‘arbitration’ is a political farce masqueraded as a legal process,” Lin said.
“The so-called ‘award’ is illegal, null and void, and has no binding force,” he added.
The response follows demands from the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) calling on China Daily to remove the artificial intelligence-generated video and refrain from broadcasting identical materials going forward.
In addition to demanding the video’s removal, the DFA launched a formal diplomatic protest targeting both the video and accompanying editorial cartoons distributed by the state publisher. The department slammed the propaganda pieces as “dehumanizing and racist,” labeling them “offensive and inappropriate.”
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague issued its historic verdict on July 12, 2016, dismantling Beijing’s expansive historic claims across the South China Sea dictated by its “nine-dash line.”
Although Beijing has perpetually ignored the court’s decree, Manila continues to leverage the landmark ruling as its primary legal anchor to safeguard its sovereign rights and maritime territory within the West Philippine Sea.