Barbie Movie Won’t Be Screened In Vietnam Due To The South China Sea Map Dispute
The Vietnamese government has banned the release of the Barbie movie due to its depiction on a map of China’s waters in the South China Sea.
Vietnam is among the countries that disagree with China’s claim to almost the entire South China Sea.
The Barbie movie, which was supposed to be released on July 21, has closed.
China has been building military bases on artificial islands in the South China Sea for two years and often conducts maritime reconnaissance operations to further control Chinese territory. In 2016, the Dutch International Court in The Hague ruled against China’s claim to territorial waters, and China does not recognize this ruling. This is not the first Barbie movie produced by Onena Bros. banned due to a controversial tag. In 2019, Dream Works’ animated film Abominable was also banned for the same reason. In 2022, the Vietnamese government did not allow the screening of Sony’s action movie Uncharted.
Two years ago, Netflix did not air the Australian TV series Pine Gap in Vietnam because the authorities were not happy with this. In 2018, the censorship board also cut a scene from the movie Asian Super Rich.
The movie Barbie stars actress Margot Robbie and actor Ryan Gosling in the lead roles. Vietnamese state media Tien Phong said scenes that the authorities didn’t like were often included in the film.
