Bad Business in the Disputed Sea: Superpower Rivalry,
Racist Tropes, the Illusion of Independent Diplomacy
and the Blatant Threat to Philippine Sovereignty
Late Thursday night (July 16, 2026), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) drew a hard line in the sand. Beijing’s state-run China Daily sank to a grotesque low in its press strategy, publishing AI-generated videos and cartoons that depicted Filipinos as monkeys over the ongoing 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award disputes.
“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 DFA stated. “The Philippines has consistently rejected false narratives and distortions regarding the Arbitral Award and the Philippines lawful positions in the South China Sea. But we draw a firm line at the depiction of Filipinos as monkeys in the 10 July 2026 video, which is deeply offensive, distressing, and unacceptable.”
The DFA rightly noted that legal and political friction "does not justify resorting to disturbing imagery, which has no place in the civil public discourse of a responsible state," warning that "such imagery and misinformation only serve to widen the distrust between the Philippines and China." Its demand was straightforward: "The Philippines demands that the offensive material be taken down, calls for the immediate cessation of such irresponsible content, and urges China to uphold dignity, respect, and truth in public discourse.”
Beijing deserves every ounce of backlash it receives. But for business leaders, investors, and taxpayers watching this spectacle unfold from Manila, the situation brings a bitter sense of déjà vu.
The False Choice of Two Empires
Whenever geopolitical tensions boil over, public commentary quickly descends into a binary trap, forcing observers to debate whether Beijing or Washington better serves Manila’s national interest. Yet a closer examination reveals that both powers have relied on the exact same playbook of racist propaganda to justify their hegemony over the Philippine archipelago.
China Daily’s video is not an isolated anomaly; it is a direct echo of American imperialist tactics from the early 1900s. When Washington established its colonial grip on the country, American officers and media outlets routinely derided Filipinos as "monkeys without tails" or worse. U.S. magazines ran caricatures depicting the population as "semi-savage others" or uncivilized animals needing white governance to justify military conquest and economic exploitation.
Over time, that open hostility was repackaged into the softer, patronizing label of the "little brown brother"—a polite cover for neocolonial control. In fact, historical commentary on Western prejudice notes that Filipinos who blindly embraced Western influence were often secretly viewed by Western eyes as nothing more than "overdressed monkeys."
This raises a fundamental question about the current political climate: why is the Philippine political class so quick to downplay Washington's past as "water under the bridge," while rightfully exploding in anger over Beijing? It appears many have simply accepted the role of the "little brown brother" because the white power structure wrapped its imperial expansion in a narrative of benevolence, even when its actions were fundamentally wrong.
The Price of Selective Memory
This selective amnesia is precisely what makes current defense leadership so concerning to economic observers. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and PCG Commodore Jay Tarriela were predictably swift to appear on television and condemn Beijing. The video, after all, was a direct personal attack on them, President Marcos Jr., and their defense policy.
However, their anti-Chinese rhetoric and close alignment with Washington succeeded in baiting China Daily to drop to new lows. Critics point out that the Marcos administration invokes the arbitral ruling not to pursue an independent diplomatic path, but to serve the U.S. geopolitical agenda of expanding its military presence in the South China Sea to provoke China and prepare for war.
Yet while Teodoro, Tarriela, and their pro-American cohorts rail against China, they remain dead silent on Washington’s latest military moves in the Middle East. Renewed U.S. armed attacks against Iran have once again sabotaged peace negotiations, driven up global oil prices, and inflicted grave hardships on the Filipino people.
Every time Washington stirs the geopolitical pot, local pump prices jump, shipping rates rise, and ordinary Filipinos pay the tab. The nation must ask whether the United States should be viewed as a "lesser evil" simply because it provides a façade of "democracy," even as it subjects the Philippines to the same historical slurs and economic fallout.
As historian Renato Constantino maintained in Neocolonial Identity and Counter-Consciousness: “With little comprehension of our past, we have no appreciation of its meaningful interrelation with the present.”
Exchanging a bully in Beijing for a master in Washington is neither sound national defense nor prudent economic policy; it is bad business and a total surrender of sovereign dignity.
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References
Constantino, R. (1978). Neocolonial Identity and Counter-Consciousness: Essays on Cultural Decolonization. Routledge.
Department of Foreign Affairs. (2026, July 16). Statement of the Department of Foreign Affairs on the offensive media materials published by China Daily [Press release]. Republic of the Philippines.