PH Issues Diplomatic Protest Over China Daily's 'Racist' Videos, Cartoons

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday announced it has issued a formal diplomatic protest over "dehumanizing and racist" depictions of Filipinos in videos and editorial cartoons by China Daily, a Chinese state-run media outlet, concerning the 2016 arbitral ruling. The DFA stated that the Philippines first conveyed its "firm objection to the offensive content" when DFA Undersecretary Leo Herrera-Lim directly raised the issue with Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan in a face-to-face meeting on July 16. Herrera-Lim demanded the removal of the materials, "stressing that such content is inconsistent with the mutual respect expected between states and does no favors to the sound and stable management of bilateral relations." "The Department has since issued a formal diplomatic protest condemning the videos and cartoons, noting that China Daily went beyond legitimate political debate by resorting to demeaning, dehumanizing, and racist depictions of Filipinos," the DFA said in a statement. One contentious post by China Daily on social media featured a video showing a monkey dressed in a barong tagalog and a salakot, being dictated on what to say by what appeared to be American and Japanese characters. The video also depicted the monkey being sprayed with a water cannon on the high seas after being given the arbitral award. The post was made on July 10, two days before the 10th anniversary of the Permanent Court of Arbitration's historic decision that upheld the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. The DFA reiterated its call for the video's immediate takedown in its protest, warning that such content only widens distrust between the Philippines and China. "The protest underscored that while the Philippines has consistently rejected false narratives and distortions regarding the Arbitral Award and its lawful positions in the South China Sea, disagreement over legal and political issues does not justify resorting to imagery that has no place in the public discourse of responsible states." "The Department remains committed to dialogue and diplomacy in its engagement with China, but will not hesitate to call out discriminatory and offensive rhetoric wherever it appears," it added. The DFA also noted that the Philippine Embassy in Beijing had already followed through with a formal letter to China Daily's editor-in-chief. In an open letter on Friday, the Embassy emphasized that such imagery and misinformation breach norms and principles. "As a Chinese state-run media outlet, China Daily’s conduct goes beyond legitimate political debate and employs blatantly demeaning, dehumanizing, and racist depictions of Filipinos," the Embassy said, reiterating the DFA's statement. The Philippine government sued China before an international arbitral tribunal in The Hague in 2013. The tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines in July 2016, junking China's nine-dash claim over the South China Sea. China has refused to recognize the ruling. — RSJ, GMA News