‘Barbie’ fans in Vietnam must dream of seeing their childhood doll come to life on the silver screen after the government banned the live-action film for showing a map of China’s territorial claims in the disputed Sea of South China.
The fantasy-comedy film, which stars Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, was originally scheduled to be released on July 21, but was banned from release in the communist country after the Culture Ministry’s Film Department found that it contained scenes of The China’s so-called nine-dash line, state and local media reported.
The nine-dash line covers a “U” shape of 3 million square kilometers in the South China Sea, which is rich in oil and gas reserves. Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan claim parts of the same maritime area and have clashed with Beijing over broad claims to the strategic waterway, which is also home to rich fishing grounds and key commercial shipping lanes.
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