Manila, July 17 -- Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said Thursday night that a Chinese news organization's online post depicting Filipinos as monkeys and the mockery of the 2016 Arbitral Award is an offshoot of their failure to defend their "ridiculous claims" in the South China Sea (SCS).

"Such contemptible propaganda is a disgrace to any State that claims to exercise responsible regional leadership. It reveals the weakness of a government that resorts to racism, threats, and manufactured hatred because it has utterly failed to defend its ridiculous claims through reason, evidence, or law," Teodoro said.

He said the recent post by the Chinese media entity is a "revealing insight into what the Chinese...