The Philippines has lodged a diplomatic protest with China over what it called the “racist depiction” of Filipinos in a series of videos published by state-backed newspaper China Daily.
The videos, which depicted Filipinos as monkeys, went “beyond political debate” and resorted to “demeaning, dehumanizing, and racist depictions of Filipinos,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Maria Theresa Lazaro raised the issue directly with China’s ambassador, while the department also lodged a formal protest.
The Philippine embassy in Beijing separately published an open letter to the editor of China Daily, flagging the outlet for “breach of editorial norms and principles” and urging it to “uphold dignity, respect, and truth” in public discourse.
China Daily describes itself as China’s most-read English-language newspaper, claiming a combined audience of over 470 million people. It has more than 110 million followers on Facebook, where the videos were shared.
The videos were published as part of a series marking the 10th anniversary of the 2016 South China Sea arbitral award, in which an international tribunal ruled overwhelmingly in favor of the Philippines and found that China’s sweeping claims had no legal basis. Beijing has rejected the ruling and continues to assert sovereignty over most of the South China Sea.
The dispute centers on features including the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal, both claimed by China and the Philippines. The South China Sea is estimated to hold 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The dispute has led to repeated confrontations between Chinese coastguard vessels and Philippine ships, including collisions and the use of water cannons. The Philippines has received diplomatic backing from the US and other allies, including Germany, Japan, and the UK, which have called for respect for the 2016 ruling and warned against unilateral actions.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and China Daily had not publicly responded to the protest at the time of publication.
Source: www.aljazeera.com