Vietnam has banned the Barbie movie scheduled to be released on 17 July. The movie was banned after it depicted false images of the South China Sea as parts of China, territories which China had claimed illegally. Websites of the country’s major cinema chains have removed the performance schedule of the movie, following the government’s decision to ban it.
Movie Parts Not Specified
The government’s ban didn’t specify which parts of the movie were deemed offensive. Vi Kien Thanh, the Vietnamese Department of Cinema director, said they have watched the movie and have restricted the release of the movie because of the way it depicted the ‘nine-dash line’.
Nine Dash Line
The “Nine dash line” indicates areas of South China sea upon which The People’s Republic of China had laid claims. The areas include the Paracel Islands,the Spratly Islands, the Pratas Island and some other regions in the sea. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) has opposed China’s historic claims over the regions, calling them “illegal”.
