3-7-2023 (HANOI) Vietnam has banned the distribution of Warner Bros’ “Barbie” film domestically over a scene featuring a map that shows China’s unilaterally claimed territory in the South China Sea, state media reported on Monday. The U-shaped “nine-dash line” is used on Chinese maps to illustrate its claims over vast areas of the South China Sea, including areas Vietnam considers its continental shelf, where it has awarded oil concessions.
“Barbie” is the latest movie to be banned in Vietnam for depicting China’s controversial nine-dash line, which was repudiated by a court in The Hague in 2016. China has refused to recognize the ruling. In 2019, the Vietnamese government pulled DreamWorks’ animated film “Abominable” and banned Sony’s action movie “Uncharted” last year for the same reason. Netflix also removed the Australian spy drama “Pine Gap” in 2021.
“Barbie,” starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, was scheduled to release in Vietnam on July 21, the same date as in the United States, according to state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper.
Vi Kien Thanh, head of the Department of Cinema, a government body in charge of licensing and censoring foreign films, was cited as saying, “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.”
Vietnam and China have overlapping territorial claims in a potentially energy-rich stretch of the South China Sea. The Southeast Asian country has repeatedly accused Chinese vessels of violating its sovereignty. The ban on “Barbie” in Vietnam is the latest example of how the disputed nine-dash line continues to cause tensions between the two countries.
