MANILA -- An ad published by China in a Philippine newspaper has sparked controversy in the Pacific island nation, with many seeing it as a slight to their country.

China's embassy in Manila placed the ad in the Philippine Star daily Tuesday. It describes how Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi justified his country's position on its South China Sea reclamation project at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting. The ad criticizes the Philippines, whose sovereignty claim over some of the islands in the sea clashes with that of China. It also raps Japan for its support of the Philippines.

An illustration in the ad apparently inspired by an image from a ASEAN foreign ministers meeting this month depicts a Filipino shorter in stature than others.

In a different section, the ad refers to Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi with an illustration stating, "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole waiting in the backdrop." Readers took umbrage at the insinuation that the Philippines is the mantis unaware of the threat from the bird that is China. A local TV station interviewed an expert who said that the piece can be taken as a threat to the Philippines.

The Philippines criticized China at the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting, drawing support from the U.S. and other countries wary of Beijing's island building in the South China Sea.