Hanoi bans 'Barbie' movie over China-centric map of the South China Sea
In one scene, China’s nine-dash line appears. This is not the first time that Hanoi bans foreign movies over disputed territorial claims. Meanwhile, Hollywood is making a bundle in the Chinese market.
Hanoi (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Vietnam has banned “Barbie", a Warner Bros. movie, over a scene with a map showing the disputed South China Sea under Chinese control. Vietnam is one of several countries that have challenged China's claim to most of the South China Sea.
In the film, directed by Greta Gerwig, a map appears at one point featuring the so-called nine-dash line, used by Beijing to claim vast areas of the sea, which is rich in natural resources.
Vietnam considers large swathes of what it calls the East Sea (Biển Đông) as part of its continental shelf, and has awarded oil concessions. The Philippines also lays claim to parts of the sea, which it calls the West Philippine Sea.
Both Vietnam and the Philippines regularly accuse Chinese ships of entering their territorial waters and violating their sovereignty.
In 2016 the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague ruled that China’s claims had no legal foundation, a decision that China and Taiwan rejected.
This is not the first time that Vietnam has banned a foreign film over the South China Sea issue. In 2019, "The Little Yeti", an animated film by DreamWorks, was banned while last year, the Sony action movie "Unchartered" suffered the same fate. Netflix too was forced to drop the Australian TV series "Pine Gap" from its Vietnamese listing.
Increasingly, foreign film production companies are adapting their work to China’s demands in order to have a piece of the Chinese market. According to 2022 data, the latter is now worth US$ 11 billion, as much as that of the United States.
For its part, Hollywood is looking to boost revenue from China by an additional billion after Beijing lifted a ban imposed three years ago on Marvel and Disney films.
According to experts, China has also tried to boost domestic film production in recent years. As a result, China's box office overtook the US in the first quarter of 2018.
At the same, foreign productions continued to be censored. Entire scenes from Hollywood movies have been cut because of the negative portrayal of Chinese characters.
Last summer the movie "Top Gun: Maverick", by Paramount Pictures, also failed to pass China’s censors at the China’s State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television.
When a trailer for the movie premiered in 2019, it was noticed that Cruise’s iconic leather jacket was altered: A patch that in 1986 included the Japanese and Taiwanese flags now featured vague facsimiles of them.
When the final cut was made, the original flags reappeared, a decision Beijing certainly did not like since it claims Taiwan as one of its provinces.
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12/02/2016 15:14
27/02/2024 16:59
