HANOI, Vietnam (AP) - Vietnam’s state media have reported that the federal government banned distribution of the favored “Barbie” film as a result of it features a view of a map exhibiting disputed Chinese territorial claims within the South China Sea.

The newspaper Vietnam Express and different media mentioned posters promoting “Barbie” have been faraway from film distributors’ web sites after Monday’s determination. With Margot Robbie taking part in Barbie reverse Ryan Gosling’s Ken in Greta Gerwig’s comedic have a look at their “perfect” world, “Barbie” was imagined to open July 21 in Vietnamese theaters.

The stories cited Vi Kien Thanh, director normal of the Vietnam Cinema Department, as saying the National Film Evaluation Council made the choice. It mentioned a map within the movie exhibits China’s “nine-dash line,” which extends Beijing’s territorial claims far into waters that fall inside areas claimed by Vietnam and different international locations.

The “nine-dash line” is an arcane however delicate subject for China and its neighbors that depicts Beijing’s claims to sovereignty over a lot of the South China Sea, which Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines reject.

An worldwide courtroom dominated in 2016 that the “nine-dash line” has no foundation in legislation and the Philippines was entitled to an unique financial zone in a part of the realm claimed by Beijing. China rejected the ruling.

China says the overwhelming majority of the South China Sea lies inside its “nine-dash line,” which it makes use of to demarcate what it considers its maritime border. That has introduced it into tense standoffs with the ASEAN nations of Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines, with Chinese fishing boats and army vessels changing into extra aggressive within the disputed waters.

Companies whose promoting or different illustrations contradict Beijing’s claims are caught within the center, doubtlessly going through a extreme backlash from Chinese prospects and protests from the Chinese authorities.

Warner Bros. places of work have been closed Tuesday for the July 4 vacation.

In 2019, Vietnam ordered showings of “Abominable” canceled after moviegoers complained a couple of scene exhibiting the “nine-dash line.” Politicians within the Philippines referred to as for a boycott of all DreamWorks releases to protest the scene, and Malaysia ordered the scene to be reduce from the film.

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