Vietnam bans ‘Barbie’ film over South China Sea map

By Reuters: Vietnam has banned Warner Bros’ highly-anticipated movie “Barbie” from home distribution over a scene that includes a map that exhibits China’s unilaterally claimed territory within the South China Sea, state media reported on Monday.

The U-shaped “nine-dash line” is used on Chinese maps as an instance its claims over huge areas of the South China Sea, together with swathes of what Vietnam considers its continental shelf, the place it has awarded oil concessions.

“Barbie” is the most recent film to be banned in Vietnam for depicting China’s controversial nine-dash line, which was repudiated in a world arbitration ruling by a courtroom in The Hague in 2016. China refuses to recognise the ruling.

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In 2019 the Vietnamese authorities pulled DreamWorks’ animated movie “Abominable” and final yr it banned Sony’s motion film “Unchartered” for a similar purpose. Netflix additionally eliminated an Australian spy drama “Pine Gap” in 2021.

“Barbie”, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, was initially slated to open in Vietnam on July 21, the identical date as within the United States, in accordance with state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper.

“We do not grant a license for the American movie ‘Barbie’ to release in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line,” the paper reported, citing Vi Kien Thanh, head of the Department of Cinema, a authorities physique in command of licensing and censoring international movies.

Warner Bros didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Vietnam and China have lengthy had overlapping territorial claims to a probably energy-rich stretch within the South China Sea. The Southeast Asian nation has repeatedly accused Chinese vessels of violating its sovereignty.

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