According to state media in Vietnam, the government has prohibited the sale of the popular “Barbie” film because it depicts controversial Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea. Following Monday’s judgement, posters advertising “Barbie” were withdrawn from movie distributors’ websites, according to the newspaper Vietnam Express and other media.
“Barbie,” starring Margot Robbie as Barbie opposite Ryan Gosling as Ken in Greta Gerwig’s satirical look at their “perfect” society, was set to debut in Vietnamese theatres on July 21.
According to sources, the decision was taken by the National Film Evaluation Council, according to Vi Kien Thanh, director general of the Vietnam Cinema Department. According to the report, a map in the video depicts China’s “nine-dash line,” which stretches Beijing’s territorial claims well into waters that fall within areas claimed by Vietnam and other countries.
The “nine-dash line” is a complicated but sensitive topic for China and its neighbours since it reflects Beijing’s claims to sovereignty over the vast majority of the South China Sea, which Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines deny.
In 2016, an international court declared that the “nine-dash line” is unconstitutional and that the Philippines is entitled to an exclusive economic zone in part of the territory claimed by Beijing. The verdict was rejected by China.
China claims that the great part of the South China Sea belongs within the “nine-dash line,” which it uses to define its maritime border. As a result, it has been involved in tense standoffs with the ASEAN states of Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines, with Chinese fishing boats and military vessels becoming more aggressive in disputed waters.
Companies whose advertising or other depictions contradict Beijing’s statements are caught in the crossfire, risking a significant backlash from Chinese customers as well as government complaints.
The Warner Bros. headquarters were closed on Tuesday for the Fourth of July vacation.
Vietnam cancelled screenings of “Abominable” in 2019 when viewers protested about a scene depicting the “nine-dash line.” To protest the sequence, politicians in the Philippines called for a boycott of all DreamWorks films, and Malaysia asked that the clip be removed from the film.
