Vietnam bans ‘Barbie’ movie on South China Sea map

HANOI, July 3 (Reuters) – Vietnam has banned the highly anticipated Warner Bros movie “Barbie” from domestic distribution over a scene featuring a map showing China’s unilaterally claimed territory in the South China Sea, state media said on Monday.

The U-shaped “nine-dash line” is used on Chinese maps to depict its claims to vast areas of the South China Sea, including areas of what Vietnam considers its continental shelf, where it has granted oil concessions.

“Barbie” is the latest film to be banned in Vietnam for depicting China’s controversial nine-dash line, which was rejected in an international arbitration ruling by a court in The Hague in 2016. China refuses to recognize the ruling.

In 2019, the Vietnamese government pulled DreamWorks’ animated film “Abominable” and last year banned Sony’s action film “Unchartered” for the same reason. Netflix also dropped an Australian spy drama “Pine Gap” in 2021.

“Barbie,” starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, was originally scheduled to open in Vietnam on July 21, the same date as the United States, according to state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper.

“We do not license the American film ‘Barbie’ in Vietnam because it contains the offensive image of the nine-dash line,” the newspaper quoted Vi Kien Thanh, head of the Film Department, a government body, as saying. responsible for the licensing and censorship of foreign films.

Warner Bros. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Vietnam and China have long had overlapping territorial claims to a potentially energy-rich stretch of the South China Sea. The Southeast Asian country has repeatedly accused Chinese ships of violating its sovereignty.

Report by Phuong Nguyen. Edited by Kanupriya Kapoor

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