Vietnam bans 'Barbie' movie over map of South China Sea | DW News

Vietnam has banned Barbie the film that

is the Margot Robbie stara was due to be

released there on the 21st of July but

won't be released now

cold shower State media reported this

was because the film included a map

showing unilateral Chinese claims in the

South China Sea and if you look at the

trailer of the film you just about catch

a glimpse of the offending map in

question momentarily there the world map

in Barbie world with that line

with the dashes on it

now here's what those dashes look like

on a real world map of the South China

Sea with Chinese claims on them

the so-called nine-dash line represents

beijing's version of what it believes

the extent of its territory is only

problem with that is that it's a

unilateral claim that's been labeled

illegal under international law and one

that also encompasses territories

claimed by other nations including

Vietnam

so that formed the basis of Vietnam

Banning the film in fact the state-run

tour trade newspaper quoted

head of the Department of Cinema as

saying

we do not Grant license for the American

movie Barbie to release in Vietnam

because it contains the offending image

of the nine-dash line

that line has been the source of serious

friction between China and Vietnam to

the point that both have engaged in

deadly armed skirmishes over the parasol

and spratly Islands in 1974 and 1988

respectively both China and Vietnam

claim sovereignty over these islands

which fall within the nine-dash line in

fact back in May 2014 Vietnam claimed

Chinese vessels rammed its ships near

the paracels this after ships from both

sides faced off against each other

following China Towing an oil rig into

Waters claimed by Vietnam

now just a few months back in May ships

from both sides faced off against each

other again over oil drilling at

Vanguard Bank in the spratly islands the

animosity between both countries over

sovereignty claims in the South China

Sea is clear and it's the reason Vietnam

has banned movies in the past over any

maps showing China's 9-9 such as the

movie abominable in 2019. in fact this

week Vietnam has not just banned the

Barbie movie but is also inspecting the

website of K-Pop group blackpink's tour

organizer the allegation being that the

site showed a map of the South China Sea

with disputed boundaries but it was the

action against the Barbie film that

prompted the Chinese government to issue

the following statement

China's position on the South China Sea

issue is clear and consistent we believe

that the relevant countries should not

link that issue with cultural and social

matter and joining me now for more is

Gwen a visiting fellow in the Vietnam

studies program at the iseas Yusuf ishak

Institute in Singapore Mr Grant let's

talk about the offending map in the

Barbie film does it really show

unilateral Chinese claims in the South

China Sea or is it just a cinematic tool

to represent Barbie's view of the world

well I think that's very you know easy

but also very complex issue to the

Vietnamese authorities and also I think

the Philippines Authority as well so

first before we start discussing about

that I think it's important for us to

know about you know what is nadash line

what is so important so nadashlaw is a

great concept that introduced by the

Chinese authorities to claim more than

80 percent of the South China Sea so

basically make it like Chinese backyard

and it's very you know historically it's

playlists and in terms of international

law it was throughout my 2016 uh Court

rule of the permanent arbitration so

basically it's a card like a way for the

for Beijing to impose its claims on the

South China Sea against other five

elements in South China Sea

yeah but how sensitive is this for for

Vietnam

so the thing is that for the Knight dash

line it's not that's a you know that's

claims you know that's the narrative by

China but also try to create you know

facts on the ground by imposing you know

its claims of using literally uh actions

of intruding other countries inclusive

economic zones and harassing fishing uh

activities on Vietnamese and the

Philippines uh exclusive Waters so

because of that you know when you know

there are something uh that China use to

legitimize this claim whether it is you

know fictionary like office or whether

it's you know on the maps or on books on

children toys it makes uh the Vietnamese

and Philippines authorities feel you

know unacceptable because in some way it

gives uh China a tune to legitimize

their bracelets are claimed

right so at the same time you also have

China becoming Vietnam's largest trading

partner and it's a relationship that's

only improved in the past decade

especially how does Vietnam balance its

position on Chinese claims in the South

China Sea with its trade dependence on

China

I think that's the very difficult

question not only for the money for the

Vietnamese Authority but also for other

countries in Southeast Asia because I

believe that all the Southeast Asian

countries have China as a big straight

partner so for countries like Vietnam

they try to hedge the position by

seeking a closer alignment to the United

States and other Western countries and

they also try to create you know

stronger partnership between middle

powers and other countries in the region

lies upon South Korea Indonesia and

India so they try to make a couple of

safety net in order to them to avoid

being you know a victim of Chinese

coercive economic course if uh sanctions

or other military uh you know

threatening activities by Vietnamese but

of course it's very tough situation

because when you have a very you know

asymmetric power in relation to uh

Beijing is very hard for Vietnam and

four countries like the Philippines to

balance against China so that's why it's

very important for countries like

Vietnam to you know to have a strong

support by the global community and

that's why uh the thing that you see on

the Barbie movie or in other movies that

are banned in Vietnam because of the

night that's like it's not because

something you know just annoying for the

Vietnamese authorities but it's

something like they want to counter the

Chinese claims you know in terms of you

know winning the global public opinion

because when you are exposed to the

United line maybe you are not supporting

Chinese claim but you are aware that

there is some kind of like dispute about

that but from the perspective of Vietnam

across some lines on the sea and you

claim yours because there is no dispute

at all in terms of sovereignty and and

Maritime are disputes from the

perspective of the Vietnamese and

Philippines because what they see is

that another slide is illegal in terms

of international law and there is no

historical basis for Beijing to claim

that

what is it what is the action that one

takes when it comes to facts on the

ground and by that I basically mean

actual Chinese control of some of these

disputed uh outposts or disputed

territories in the South China Sea is

Vietnam prepared to use Force to counter

Chinese claims that are increasingly

becoming militaristic

I think it's very hard for Vietnam or

for any other country in Southeast Asia

to counter China you know directly by

military actions because of the power

asymmetry between China and the rest of

Southeast Asia so for China they

um in process as I enforce our two main

Tunes in order to seek control over the

South China Sea so first by what you say

you know what they call the

militarization of the South Genesee

creating artificial islands are having a

lot of crashing activities and then you

know are selling a lot of vessels both

research vessels or coast guards selling

around venturing to other countries

exclusive academic zones and try to make

you know a solitary plane based on those

fights on the ground so for a country

like Vietnam they have been trying to at

least secure what they already have you

know trashing some other apples that

they control and trying to improve their

own Maritime capability you know by

having import imported some ships and

vegetables from other countries to

improve their Coastal guards and then by

also showing more cooperation between

Vietnam and other claimants in Southeast

Asia so they try to create some kind of

like a network that can help you know

cut the China like in the united front

we'll have to leave it there but thank

you so much for providing all that a

context

from the ises

I'm sorry Yusuf ishak Institute in

Singapore thank you so much sir

my pleasure