Barbie, the most anticipated movie of the summer, will not be shown in Vietnamese cinemas. The reason: a scene in which a disputed part of the South China Sea has been assigned to China.
Even the eerily perfect universe of Barbie – once just a plastic doll, now also the bright pink subject of the summer’s most hyped movie – doesn’t escape geopolitics. Vietnam bans the film from all its cinemas, writes The Guardiandue to one scene showing a map of the South China Sea.
By showing that card, the makers of the Warner Bros film are entering turbulent waters. The sea has been a source of conflict for decades, between China and other countries in the region, but also with the United States. The US has had military control over the area for decades and can theoretically stop anyone at any time with its nuclear bombers and naval ships. China depends on the sea for vital imports of raw materials and energy resources.
‘offensive’
The disputed card in the Barbie movie depicts the so-called “nine-dash line” – the “line with nine dashes”. That U-shaped line shows the part of the South China Sea that China has claimed as part of its territory since the 1940s. But that claim is controversial, to say the least. The International Court of Justice in The Hague rejected it in 2016, but China does not accept it.
The disputed card in the Barbie movie depicts the so-called “nine-dash line” – the “line with nine dashes”. Photo: rr
Vietnam has been vehemently opposing China’s unilateral claims for years and claims the same sea areas. It has repeatedly accused China of violating Vietnamese territory with its ships. The conflict is not only about history and principles: the bottom of the South China Sea is also rich in oil.
The head of Vietnam’s communist-led “department of cinema” — which allows, bans or censors foreign films — called the map in the Barbie film “offensive.” That’s not the first time. Animated film Abominable was already banned in 2019, and last year action film Uncharted, each time because it also featured a map with the ‘nine-dash line’.
2023-07-04 11:45:38
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