NB Explains | 'Barbie' banned in Vietnam over scene on disputed nine-dash line in South China Sea

Barbie banned in Vietnam: Barbie, a fantasy comedy film based on the famous doll starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling has gained more attention after authorities in Vietnam have banned it.

 

The movie, set for a release on 21 July, has upset officials for a depiction of a world map that shows ‘9 dash line’ in a scene, the same that China uses to claim most parts of the South China Sea.

 

 

Vi Kien Thanh, director general of the Vietnam Cinema Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, said on Monday that the ban was decided by the National Film Evaluation Council. “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,” said the state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper, also citing Vi Kien Thanh.

 

Barbie, the movie, depicts the “offensive image” of China’s nine-dash line. For the unaware, the nine-dash line is used in Chinese maps of the South China Sea to show its territorial claims. Notably, China's nine-dash line is to illustrate its expansive claims over most of the resource-rich sea including an area that Vietnam considers to be its continental shelf.

 

Notably, the nine-dash line was denounced in a 2016 international arbitration ruling by a court in The Hague but Beijing does not recognize the ruling.

 

 

Barbie is not the first film in Vietnam to get into trouble over the depiction of the nine-dash line. DreamWorks’ animated film Abominable was banned for the same reason in 2019 and Sony’s Unchartered, starring Tom Holland, suffered the same fate last year.

 

In 2018, Vietnam cut a scene from the romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians that featured a designer bag with a map of the world showing the disputed South China Sea islands under Beijing’s control. In 2021, even Netflix was told to ditch episodes of its Pine Gap series over similar scenes.

China claims around 80% of the South China Sea. To back up the claim, China uses a 1947 map that shows vague dashes looping down to a point about 1,800 KMs from Hainan island. The area that it claims covers parts of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei.

 

There have been multiple incidents where China and Vietnam have had confrontations over these disputed territories, including clashes between naval vessels. China regularly uses its maritime militia to harass Vietnamese civilian and military vessels.

 

Vietnam is not the only country China has border disputes with. India, Bhutan and Nepal have raised concerns over border issues with China.