Vietnam has banned the release of the Warner Bros. film “Barbie,” saying it misdraws the border of the South China Sea’s nine-dash line. The film will be released worldwide on July 21.
Post Date – 09:23 AM, Tuesday – July 4th
Hanoi: Vietnam has banned Warner Bros.’ highly anticipated “Barbie” film, which allegedly contained a controversial map.
Directed by Greta Gerwig, the film opens in Vietnam on July 21, to coincide with its big-screen release in most countries around the world.
However, Vietnamese state media announced that the film would not be shown because one of the scenes included a map using the “nine-dash line,” a set of line segments representing China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, which Vietnam claims. violate its sovereignty.
Vi Kien Thanh, head of the film department, was quoted by Vietnam’s state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper as saying: “We do not grant permission for the American film ‘Barbie’ to be released in Vietnam because it contains offensive nine-dash imagery.”
Vi Kien Thanh said the decision was made by Vietnam’s National Film Evaluation Committee.
The U-shaped line, which first appeared on maps in 1947, includes what Vietnam considers to be its continental shelf, which Vietnam has granted oil rights to.
According to the New York Post, the line is highly controversial because many of China’s neighbors, including Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam, have competing and overlapping territorial claims, and China’s territory is also there is controversy.
“Barbie” is not the first film to face problems when it is released in Vietnam due to the “nine-dash line” controversy.
In 2019, DreamWorks’ “Snowman” was banned for the same reason, and Sony’s “Uncharted” was also banned last year. According to The New, TV shows Put Your Head On My Shoulder and Madam Secretary were told to remove certain scenes containing the map in 2020, and Netflix will also have to remove the map from Australia, which airs in Vietnam in 2021. Removed from spy drama Pine Gap. York Post.
