China Daily uses AI cartoon depicting PH as a barong-clad ‘stupid’ monkey

By Felipe F. Salvosa II
PressOne.PH

 

Why it matters: China’s state-run China Daily has released an AI-generated animated video depicting a monkey dressed in a barong Tagalog and salakot to mock the Philippine position on maritime negotiations with Japan.

• The incendiary short video illustrates how state media is increasingly using generative AI and visual satire to advance geopolitical narratives on social media.

 

What’s new: The video, which has two titles: “Litter on waves: Failed maritime karaoke” superimposed on the video, and “The Philippine Politicians’ Karaoke Show” on the video description, was uploaded to China Daily’s official YouTube channel on July 10.

• The monkey wears a traditional barong Tagalog and salakot, standing on a stage aboard a naval vessel. Above the stage is a sign that reads “Karaoke Show.”
• The video description claims Filipino politicians “stray from the truth” and that the 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling has become “a source of confrontation dressed up as law.”
• The criticism is linked to the recently announced Philippines-Japan maritime delimitation talks.

 

Filipino-coded: The animated character is not presented as a generic animal; the use of a brown monkey revives colonial and racist tropes, clearly meant to provoke outrage.

• Its clothing unmistakably identifies it as Filipino through two widely recognized national symbols—the barong Tagalog and the salakot, a traditional headgear.
• Throughout the animation, the character performs before a microphone in what China Daily portrays as a theatrical “karaoke show.”
• Using the popular Filipino pastime,  the video implies that the Philippines is being made to sing to tunes dictated by Washington and Tokyo, who are not seen except as two arms pointing to the monkey and ordering it to perform.

 

‘Stupid monkey: “We attempt to bypass China and initiate the so-called maritime delimitation talks,” the monkey sings using a low voice, only to be cut off by a voiceover that says “Wrong song! Stupid monkey! We gave you the other lyrics!

• The monkey takes out of his pocket a paper that says “South China Sea Arbitration,” which angers the two powers and causes them to throw the monkey overboard.
• The monkey comes at the receiving end of a water cannon installed on what looks like a Chinese coast guard vessel, a familiar image from news accounts of Beijing’s aggressive actions against Philippine resupply missions in the West Philippine Sea.
• It meets a whale, which sees the paper floating on the water, and asks it to help “keep the ocean clean.”
• The irony is rich as the 2016 arbitration actually found China to have engaged in large-scale clam fishing and destruction of coral reefs through reclamation, facts testified to by an American expert who was slain over the weekend in an apparently unrelated incident, on the 10th anniversary of Manila’s arbitration victory.

 

The wider picture: The video appeared just one day after Global Times published an article amplifying claims made during a June 30 academic symposium at Jinan University that asserted China has sovereignty over Batanes.

• Together, the two publications illustrate different approaches to advancing Beijing’s narratives on Philippine maritime issues.
• While Global Times relied on legal, historical and geopolitical arguments, China Daily employed AI-generated animation, caricature and satire aimed at a broader online audience.
• The word “monkey” is one the keywords in PressOne.PH’s dataset of initial reactions to the Batanes claim that came out of the Jinan University symposium.

From symposium to social media: Tracking the emergence of the Batanes claim

July 16, 2026

On social media, PH becomes a target as Batanes claim spreads

July 16, 2026

 

AI-enabled propaganda: Generative AI has enabled Chinese state media to rapidly produce animated content that serves multiple purposes: commentary, entertainment and political messaging.

• It’s also easily shareable digital content that openly ridicules the Philippines over its stances on regional maritime disputes.

 

This report was made possible by an Internews project to build the capacity of news organizations in understanding disinformation and influence operations in the Philippines.