The Philippines has condemned the “dehumanizing and racist” depiction of the country as a timid monkey being forced to confront Beijing by the United States and Japan. over the South China Sea.

Last week, China Daily published an AI-generated video featuring a monkey wearing a Filipino t-shirt. He screams as arms carrying the Japanese and American flags push him onto a rickety karaoke stage set up on a boat.

After being scolded for singing the wrong song, he pulls out a piece of paper that says “South China Sea arbitration award.” He is then thrown into the sea and attacked by a water cannon.

Tense standoffs and occasional violent clashes between Filipino and Chinese vessels in the disputed waters have increased in recent years.

At the center of tensions between Manila and Beijing are the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal (known as Huangyan Island in China), just over 160 kilometers from the Philippines and 500 miles from China.

The Chinese Coast Guard routinely uses high-pressure water cannons against Philippine vessels in disputed shoals, causing damage and injuries.

“Disagreement on legal and political issues does not justify resorting to disturbing images, which have no place in the civil public discourse of a responsible state,” the Foreign Ministry in Manila said, demanding that the clip be removed.

“Such images and misinformation only serve to widen the mistrust between the Philippines and China,” he added.

The Philippine Defense Ministry called the video “despicable propaganda” and said it “exposes the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of China’s propaganda machine.”

“The recent spate of schizophrenic behavior by the Chinese Communist Party is too clear to ignore or ignore,” said Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.

The video, posted on July 10, remains on China Daily’s Facebook page at the time of writing.

Last week marked a decade since the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines, concluding that China’s extensive claims in the South China Sea had no legal basis under international law.

Beijing has ignored the ruling, saying the court lacks jurisdiction.

Tensions between Beijing and Manila have risen sharply in recent years over their overlapping claims, with each side accusing the other of provocations and altercations at sea, including some with weapons such as swords, spears and knives.