The Philippines has filed a formal complaint with China's government after Chinese state media created a video using artificial intelligence that showed the Philippines as a monkey, according to The New York Times on July 17, 2026 (The New York Times).

The Philippine government called the video racist and said it made tensions between the two countries worse. By sending the complaint to Beijing, the Philippines turned the issue from a media story into an official grievance between two governments.

The video was made using artificial intelligence, meaning software that can create images or video, and it came from Chinese state media. AI content can be made quickly, changed easily, and spread fast on social media, where platforms push popular content to more users. That makes it hard to stop once it starts circulating. The monkey image carries particular weight in Asian history, where it has been used to make certain groups of people seem less than human or inferior. Manila's decision to treat the video as a government-level matter reflects its view that because state media made it, the Chinese government is responsible.

The broader context here matters for understanding how this may affect the relationship between the Philippines and China. The two countries have been arguing over territory in the South China Sea, where their ships have had repeated run-ins. A formal complaint over a racist video goes beyond the usual back-and-forth that surrounds these territorial disputes. It shifts the argument to a more sensitive area — national pride and racial treatment — which tends to make both sides dig in publicly.

For Manila, filing a formal complaint is a deliberate step. It creates a record. It forces Beijing to either respond, which could make the controversy worse, or stay silent, which could look like it accepts the video. Manila's condemnation also sends a message to the Philippine public, which has been sensitive to what it sees as Chinese provocations.

The use of AI as the tool for making the video adds something new beyond usual propaganda. AI content can be produced fast, changed easily, and shared on platforms where it is hard to tell who is responsible. Because the video came from state media rather than anonymous online users, the Philippine government has a clear target. But it also means the video carries the weight of a government behind it, which is what makes the situation more serious than a typical social media incident.

China has used state media to pressure other countries before. Manila's complaint is an attempt to draw a line — that racist content from a government's own media is a provocation, not just normal propaganda. Whether other Southeast Asian countries, some of which have their own disputes with China, will support the Philippines on this point is not yet clear.

What happens next will depend on how Beijing responds and whether the video keeps spreading. If Chinese state media continues or makes more content like this, the complaint may signal the start of a new kind of information conflict between the two governments. If the video is quietly taken down or rejected, it may be remembered as a one-time incident. Either way, the Philippines has now made AI-generated racist content from state media something that governments can formally protest — a step other countries may point to if they face similar situations.