The diplomatic spat is rooted within the ongoing dispute between China and the Philippines over sovereignty within the South China Sea.
Revealed On 18 Jul 2026
The Philippines has lodged a diplomatic protest with China over what it known as the “racist depiction” of Filipinos in a collection of movies printed by state-backed newspaper China Each day.
The movies, which depicted Filipinos as monkeys, went “past political debate” and resorted to “demeaning, dehumanizing, and racist depictions of Filipinos,” the Division of International Affairs stated in an announcement on Friday.
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International Affairs Undersecretary Maria Theresa Lazaro raised the problem immediately with China’s ambassador to the nation, whereas the division additionally lodged a proper diplomatic protest condemning the movies.
Its embassy in Beijing individually printed an open letter addressed to the editor of China Each day, flagging the outlet for “breach of editorial norms and rules”, and urging the publication to “uphold dignity, respect, and fact” in public discourse.
China Each day describes itself as China’s most-read English-language newspaper. It claims a mixed viewers of greater than 470 million individuals. It has greater than 110 million followers on Fb, the place the movies have been shared.
The movies have been printed as a part of a collection marking the tenth anniversary of the 2016 South China Sea arbitral award, through which a global tribunal dominated overwhelmingly in favour of the Philippines and located that China’s sweeping claims within the South China Sea had no authorized foundation underneath worldwide regulation.
Beijing has rejected the ruling and continues to claim sovereignty over many of the South China Sea, the place tensions have remained excessive.
The dispute centres on options together with the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal, each of that are claimed by China and the Philippines.
The South China Sea is estimated to have 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic toes of pure fuel.
The dispute has led to repeated confrontations between Chinese language coastguard vessels and Philippine ships, together with collisions and using water cannon that Manila says have endangered its personnel and fishermen.
The Philippines has acquired diplomatic backing from the US and different allies together with Germany, Japan and the UK, which have repeatedly known as for respect for the 2016 arbitral ruling.
In a joint assertion launched this month, the nations reaffirmed their help for what they described because the tribunal’s “legally binding” and “definitive” findings and warned in opposition to “unilateral actions together with by power or coercion that threaten peace and stability within the area”.
China’s Ministry of International Affairs and China Each day had not publicly responded to the Philippine protest on the time of publication.
