Vietnam bans Barbie movie for showing Beijing’s South China Sea claims
- Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, is the latest film to be banned in Vietnam for depicting China’s controversial nine-dash line
- In 2019 the government pulled DreamWorks’ animated film Abominable and last year it banned Sony’s action movie Unchartered for the same reason
The U-shaped “nine-dash line” is used on Chinese maps to illustrate its claims over vast areas of the South China Sea, including swathes of what Vietnam considers its continental shelf, where it has awarded oil concessions.
“We do not grant licence for the American movie Barbie to release in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line,” the paper reported, citing Vi Kien Thanh, head of the Department of Cinema, a government body in charge of licensing and censoring foreign films.
China, Vietnam restate pledge on South China Sea ‘code of conduct’
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 in the South China Sea.
The Southeast Asian country has repeatedly accused Chinese vessels of violating its sovereignty.