Vietnam has banned industrial screenings of Warner Bros’ Barbie as a consequence of a scene that depicts a map of the South China Sea with the “nine-dash line” that’s contested by the Vietnamese authorities.
The movie, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, was scheduled for launch in Vietnam on July 21.
The controversial “nine-dash line” represents China’s territorial claims within the South China Sea, which Vietnam disputes. The U-shaped line was additionally repudiated in a global arbitration ruling by a courtroom in The Hague in 2016. China refuses to recognise the ruling.
Vi Kien Thanh, director normal of the Vietnam Cinema Department, underneath the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated the ban was determined by Vietnam’s National Film Evaluation Council.
“We do not grant a licence for the American movie Barbie to release in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line,” he was quoted as saying in state-run newspaper Tuoi Tre.
Other movies depicting the road have been banned in Vietnam in recent times, together with DreamWorks animation Abominable and Sony’s Unchartered, whereas Netflix was ordered to take away Australian spy drama Pine Gap from its service in Vietnam in 2021.
China, Vietnam, Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei all have competing claims within the South China Sea.
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