'Barbie': Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie film banned in Vietnam over South China Sea map

Vietnam has banned Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie’s highly anticipated film ‘Barbie’ from domestic distribution.

This decision comes over a scene that features a map that shows China's unilaterally claimed territory in the South China Sea, state media reported.

‘We do not grant a license for the American movie 'Barbie' to release in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line,’ the paper reported, citing Vi Kien Thanh, head of the Department of Cinema, a government body in charge of licensing and censoring foreign films.

Vietnam is among a number of countries that contest China's claim to almost all of the South China Sea. The U-shaped ‘nine-dash line’ is used in Chinese maps of the South China Sea to show its territorial claims.

In 2019, the Vietnamese government pulled DreamWorks' animated film ‘Abominable’ and in 2022, it banned Sony's action movie ‘Unchartered’ for the same reason.

Netflix also removed an Australian spy drama ‘Pine Gap’ in 2021.

Warner Bros did not immediately respond to the news.

Vietnam and China have had overlapping territorial claims to a potentially energy-rich stretch in the South China Sea.

The Southeast Asian country has repeatedly accused Chinese vessels of violating its sovereignty.

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