Vietnam has banned the very-expected “Barbie” movie from domestic distribution over a scene that includes a map that demonstrates China’s unilaterally claimed territory in the South China Sea, state media noted on Monday.
“Barbie,” starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, was at first slated to open in Vietnam on July 21, the very same date as in the United States, in accordance to point out-run Tuoi Tre newspaper.
“We do not grant license for the American film ‘Barbie’ to launch in Vietnam mainly because it is made up of the offending graphic of the nine-sprint line,” the paper documented, citing Vi Kien Thanh, head of the Department of Cinema, a governing administration physique in demand of licensing and censoring foreign films.
The U-shaped “nine-dash line” is used on Chinese maps to illustrate its claims over huge spots of the South China Sea, like swathes of what Vietnam considers its continental shelf, where by it has awarded oil concessions.
“Barbie” is the latest film to be banned in Vietnam for depicting China’s controversial 9-sprint line, which was repudiated in an worldwide arbitration ruling by a courtroom in The Hague in 2016. China refuses to acknowledge the ruling.
In 2019 the Vietnamese government pulled DreamWorks’ animated film “Abominable” and last 12 months it banned Sony’s action movie “Unchartered” for the similar cause. Netflix also removed an Australian spy drama “Pine Gap” in 2021.
Warner Bros did not promptly react to a ask for for comment.
Vietnam and China have very long had overlapping territorial statements to a most likely electrical power-wealthy stretch in the South China Sea. The Southeast Asian state has frequently accused Chinese vessels of violating its sovereignty.
