Vietnam bans 'Barbie' movie due to an illustration showing China's territorial claim

abcnews.go.com:

State media have reported that Vietnam has banned distribution of the popular «Barbie» movie because it includes a view of a map showing disputed Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam's state media have reported that the government banned distribution of the popular “Barbie” movie because it includes a view of a map showing disputed Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The newspaper Vietnam Express and other media said posters advertising “Barbie” were removed from movie distributors’ websites after Monday’s decision. With Margot Robbie playing Barbie opposite Ryan Gosling’s Ken in Greta Gerwig’s comedic look at their “perfect” world, “Barbie” was supposed to open July 21 in Vietnamese theaters.

The reports cited Vi Kien Thanh, director general of the Vietnam Cinema Department, as saying the National Film Evaluation Council made the decision. It said a map in the film shows China’s “nine-dash line,” which extends Beijing’s territorial claims far into waters that fall within areas claimed by Vietnam and other countries.

The “nine-dash line” is an arcane but sensitive issue for China and its neighbors that depicts Beijing’s claims to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, which Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines reject.

An international court ruled in 2016 that the “nine-dash line” has no basis in law and the Philippines was entitled to an exclusive economic zone in part of the area claimed by Beijing. China rejected the ruling.

China says the vast majority of the South China Sea lies within its “nine-dash line,” which it uses to demarcate what it considers its maritime border. That has brought it into tense standoffs with the ASEAN nations of Indonesia,