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Vietnam bans 'Barbie' movie over South China Sea map

By FamousBios Staff   2024-09-26 00:00:00
This is HANOI, Vietnam. Due to a scene in the film that includes a map that portrays China's area in the South China Sea that it has unilaterally claimed, Vietnam has barred the domestic distribution of the highly anticipated film "Barbie" by Warner Bros. Vietnam has made this decision because of the sequence. Monday was the day when this information was finally made public by official media.

Many media outlets, including the daily Vietnam Express, have reported that posters advertising "Barbie" have been removed from the websites of movie distributors as a result of the decision that was taken on Monday over the matter. It was planned that the movie "Barbie," which was directed by Greta Gerwig and starred Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, would be released in Vietnamese theaters on July 21. The movie provides a satirical look at the society that they consider to be "perfect."



Vi Kien Thanh, the director general of the Vietnam Cinema Department, was reported in the papers as saying that the decision was made by the National Film Evaluation Council. This information was revealed in the press. The "nine-dash line" of China, which extends Beijing's territorial claims deep into waters that fall within territories that are claimed by Vietnam and other states, is depicted on a map that is shown in the movie, according to what was reported.

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A port call is made by an aircraft carrier belonging to the United States of America in Da Nang, Vietnam, as the United States seeks to improve its relations with Vietnam. A FILES --- The United States Navy carrier USS Ronald Reagan arrives in Busan, South Korea, on September 23, 2022, accompanied by a security detail. This event takes place on the same day. A port visit was planned to take place in Vietnam on Sunday, June 25, 2023, for the aircraft carrier belonging to the United States of America. At a time when both Washington and Beijing are strengthening their efforts to develop their connections with Southeast Asian countries, this tour would be an uncommon one for one of the largest ships in the United States Navy. Additionally, it would take place at a time when the United States and China are both at the same time.

At a time when nations in Southeast Asia are vying for favor, a United States aircraft carrier will make a port call in Vietnam, which is an extremely unusual occurrence.

This "nine-dash line" illustrates Beijing's maritime boundary stretching into territory claimed by other states and encompasses the bulk of the South China Sea. Although it is a relatively obscure topic, it is a crucial one for China and its neighbors. Since this occurred, there has been a significant amount of animosity between the two countries. It is as a consequence of this that it has found itself in tense standoffs with the ASEAN states of Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines. In the waterways that are the subject of a dispute, Chinese fishing boats and military vessels have been observed engaging in more hostile behavior.

When asked about the topic during a daily briefing on Tuesday, Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reacted by saying, "China's position on the South China Sea problem is clear and consistent." This was in response to the questions that were asked about the matter.

Mao continued by saying, "We are of the opinion that the nations that are concerned should not link the South China Sea problem with routine cultural and people-to-people relations." The connecting in question, in our opinion, would be considered improper.

In contrast, China is particularly sensitive when it comes to the manner in which its national image and claims to its boundaries are represented in the entertainment industry and by companies. This is because China is a country that has a long history of territorial disputes. For instance, Beijing has repeatedly taken punitive action against firms, ranging from hotels to airlines, that it judges to have implied that Taiwan, which is a self-governing province with its own political system, country code, and currency, is not a part of China. This implies that Taiwan is not a part of China.

When confronted with objections from Chinese government authorities, corporations almost always give in to them. This is because they are worried about the potential of being barred from the large and lucrative Chinese market. Hollywood films that alter their material by eliminating or adding sequences based on the anticipated reaction of the Communist Party, which is now in power, and the media that is extremely nationalistic are included in this category.

In 2016, an international court issued a verdict that said that the "nine-dash line" does not have any legal foundation and that the Philippines is entitled to an exclusive economic zone in a section of the area that Beijing claims as its own. China had a negative reaction to this decision, which was that the Philippines is entitled to the exclusive economic zone.

In 2019, Vietnam issued an order to stop showings of the film "Abominable" after spectators expressed their discontent with a segment that represented the "nine-dash line." The sequence was deemed offensive by the Vietnamese government. As a means of expressing their dissatisfaction of the sequence, officials in the Philippines have called for a boycott of all films produced by DreamWorks. Additionally, Malaysia called for the sequence to be deleted from the movie and issued an order to do so.