Vietnam banned the distribution of the movie “Barbie” for including an image of a map showing Chinese claims in disputed waters in the South China Sea, This was reported by the local press on Tuesday.
The Vietnam Express newspaper and other Vietnamese media said the advertising posters for “Barbie” were removed from film distributors’ websites following Monday’s decision.
Wondering why Vietnam decided to ban the Barbie movie? This is the reason! Why did Warner Bros draw a dotted line on the map of Asia? The answer again points to the same motive: to appease China. pic.twitter.com/j8pRBczJki
Duan Dang (@duandang) July 4, 2023
Starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, Greta Gerwig’s comedy film was set to premiere in Vietnamese cinemas on July 21.
Vietnam Film Bureau Director General Vi Kien Thanh said the decision was made by the Vietnam Film Evaluation Board.
The film’s map shows China’s “line of nine dashes”, regarding Beijing’s sovereignty claims over most of the South China Sea, rejected by Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.
In 2016, an international court ruled that the “nine dash line” has no legal basis and that the Philippines was entitled to an exclusive economic zone in part of the territory claimed by Beijing. China rejected the decision.
China claims that most of the South China Sea lies within the “nine dash line” used to delineate what it considers its maritime boundary.
This allegation has led to tense clashes between China and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines), with Chinese fishing boats and military vessels becoming more aggressive in disputed waters.
In 2019, Vietnam ordered the cancellation of the screening of “Abominable” after viewers complained about a scene featuring the “line of nine dashes”.
Philippine politicians called for a boycott of all releases by American production company DreamWorks in protest of the scene, and Malaysia ordered the scene cut from the film.
Source: DN
