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Vietnam has reportedly banned the Warner Bros movie Barbie, which is all set to hit the global theatres on July 21, citing that the film violates its sovereignty. This is because the Greta Gerwig-directed movie allegedly has a scene showing a map of the South China Sea, including the Nine Dash Line.
For those unaware, the Nine Dash Line is used by the Chinese to mark their maps and illegally claim certain territories across the South China Sea. Vietnam is one among many nations that disagree with such unilateral demands.
According to the Vietnamese newspaper Tuoi Tre, Barbie was scheduled to debut in the country’s cinemas on the same day of its original release. However, due to the scene featuring the Nine Dash Line, the government of Vietnam has boycotted its screening. This was confirmed to CNBC by Vi Kien Thanh, the Head of the Vietnam Cinema Department. Interestingly, this live-action film is not the first to be banned in Vietnam.
Earlier, in 2022, Tom Holland’s Unchartered was also boycotted for including imagery of a map showing the Nine Dash Line. Likewise, in 2019, Abominable was also boycotted for the same reason.
All you need to know about the Nine Dash Line, which prompted Vietnam to ban Barbie
Over the course of history, the South China Sea has often been a disputed territory. While China unilaterally claims most of it, countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines unanimously reject them. This is where Nine Dash Line becomes significant.
According to the Chinese government, it marks their territory off the coast of China’s Hainan Island and runs all the way to the coast of Vietnam, covering the majority of the South China Sea, including the Spratly Islands. In fact, this Nine Dash Line has existed in many official and unofficial Chinese maps since the 1940s, despite protests from neighboring nations.
Interestingly, both China and Vietnam were involved in military disputes over the Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands in the South China Sea between 1974 and 1988. Geographically speaking, experts deem them as part of Vietnam. However, China argues that they are part of the South “China” Sea, and hence belong to it.
Not only that, earlier the clashes were just over land, but in recent times, they have shifted to the continental shelf (the region around the seafloor that extends beyond the coast of the South China Sea to roughly 200 nautical miles) and economic zones.
The Nine Dash Line, also called the “U-shaped Line” or even “Cow’s Tongue” is ideally named as it refers to nine dashes in the shape of a magnet. The line takes a "U" shape near the coasts of Malaysia and Brunei on one side (also called North of Borneo) and the Philippines and southern Taiwan on the other side, thus covering a lot of foreign territory.
While China has never clarified what the Nine Dash Line denotes, experts speculate territorial claim, maritime space, and sovereignty over resources in the South China Sea, that acts as an important trade route connecting major ports in Southeast Asia. In fact, China has become more rigid since Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines have started to make their own claims in the South China Sea.
Interestingly, in 2009, Malaysia and Vietnam jointly submitted China’s wrongful claim over the South China Sea’s continental shelf to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. Not only did China defend it using the fictitious Nine Dash Line, but it also claimed full sovereignty, thus sparking controversy.
In 2016, the territorial feud was introduced before the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention tribunal in The Hague, which ruled against China and also declared that the Nine Dash Line had no basis in the real world. However, the country did not accept the judgment.
In fact, it has justified its claims in ways more than one, such as by building artificial islands and ports in the South China Sea, blocking foreign naval and military air and watercraft, trying to push back foreign fishermen, and exploiting maritime oil and gas reserves in the region.
Since then, countries like France, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and the UK have sided with China’s neighbors. As a result, featuring the Nine Dash Line in Hollywood movies is deemed a sensitive and political issue.
In brief, about the movie Barbie
Barbie is a 2023 live-action, fantasy comedy Hollywood movie, directed by Greta Gerwig and produced by Warner Bros. The film brings to life Barbie, the iconic fashion doll of Mattel, and her boyfriend Ken, who are seen having the time of their lives in Barbie Land.
However, when they enter the real world, they find it hard to survive among earthlings and soon discover the joys and perils of living among them. The movie stars Margot Robbie in the role of Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken.
The 114 minutes-long movie Barbie has a budget of 100 million dollars and also stars popular faces including America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell, among others. The screenplay is written by Greta Gerwig in collaboration with Noah Baumbach. Barbie will premier in Los Angeles on July 9 and will have a nationwide and worldwide release on July 21.
