Array
Vietnam’s communist government has banned domestic screenings of the forthcoming film “Barbie” over a scene from the movie that shows a map of China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, according to reports from Asia.
The highly-anticipated Warner Brothers movie includes a scene showing China’s “Nine-Dash Line” — a U-shaped border covering most of the sea that Beijing claims as its territory and other states, including Vietnam and the United States, say is international waters.
“Barbie,” based on the iconic doll and among the most heavily promoted movies of the summer, stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and was set to be released in Vietnam on July 21.
The film will be released in the United States on that date. A spokeswoman for Warner Bros. had no immediate response to an email request for comment on the controversy. Vietnam’s state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper announced the ban.
Vietnam previously has banned other films and television series for including similar depictions of contested Chinese maritime border claims, DreamWorks’ animated movie “Abominable” in 2019 and Sony’s “Uncharted” last year.
It is not clear why producers of the film would include a scene supporting China’s South China Sea claims, given the sensitivities in Hanoi and other capitals across East Asia. Speculation, however, centers on producers seeking access for the film to the lucrative Chinese movie market drawn from a population of 1.4 billion potential ticket buyers.
