Global Courant
Of all the things that could create tensions in a region that could one day be a battleground between superpowers, the movie “Barbie” was not an obvious catalyst. Yet here we are.
Authorities in Vietnam this week banned the forthcoming Greta Gerwig film over a map in “Barbie” that they say shows a Chinese map of territory in the South China Sea where the two neighbors have competing claims.
The Philippines, another Southeast Asian country contesting China’s territorial claims in the sea, are now deciding whether to ban the star-studded film as well. And Vietnam said on Thursday it was investigating a map of the South China Sea on the website of a company promoting Blackpink, a K-pop band set to perform in Hanoi this month.
Taking such stances against seemingly innocuous cultural exports may seem like an overreaction to some. But Vietnam’s responses make more sense when viewed within historical and political contexts. Here’s an introduction.
What is Vietnamese beef with ‘Barbie’?
The head of the Vietnam Cinema Department, an agency in the one-party state, said Monday that the Warner Bros. film would not be released domestically because of a scene featuring the so-called nine-dash line — a map that appears on official Chinese documents and encircles the largest part of the South China Sea.
The official, Vi Kien Thanh, did not say which scene Vietnam did not like. Various commentators wondered when he meant that Barbie, played by Margot Robbie, stood in front of a crudely drawn world map. Some also commented that the nine-dash line in that scene appears to be very far from Asia.
If that’s indeed the offending card, “I really don’t understand what all the fuss is about,” said Bill Hayton, the author of books about Vietnam and the South China Sea.
“The map in the film appears to be unrelated to any real map of the world,” added Mr. Hayton. “This appears that Vietnam’s censors are trying to demonstrate their patriotism and usefulness to the regime.”
Vietnam’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither does Warner Bros., the American film studio told Reuters news agency on Thursday that the “Barbie” map of the South China Sea was a “childlike” drawing with no intended meaning.
Why is the South China Sea important to Vietnam?
Vietnam and China are neighbors with an extremely complex relationship. On the one hand, both are ruled by a communist party, making them ideological allies. They are also busy trading partners, sharing an 800-mile border.
Yet China occupied Vietnam for a millennium, only invading it in 1979. And under Xi Jinping, China’s powerful leader, Beijing has built military outposts on disputed islands in the South China Sea. It also rejected the groundbreaking 2016 ruling of an international tribunal that sided with the Philippines in saying that China’s extensive claim to sovereignty over the sea had no legal basis.
The South China Sea in particular is so sensitive that Vietnam and China came dangerously close to actual conflict there in 2014 after a Chinese company parked an oil rig in disputed waters off the Vietnamese coast.
All of that adds to the fear among many Vietnamese that China could one day start a war in the waters Vietnam calls the “East Sea.” Those concerns have helped shape Vietnam’s recent efforts to offset its relationship with China by building stronger ties with the United States and other countries.
This “Barbie” ban seems to fit a pattern.
Vietnamese censors banned or changed several other films that showed disputed territories is controlled by Beijing. The list includes “Crazy Rich Asians” (2018), “Abominable” (2019) and “Uncharted” (2022).
Why are Blackpink and the Philippines involved?
The Philippines is considering banning “Barbie” before its scheduled release there on July 19, with authorities this week saying the film was under review. A Philippine Senator, Francis N. Tolentino, said that screening it would belittle Philippine sovereignty.
Separately, a Vietnamese official said this week that the country’s culture ministry was trying to verify whether a Beijing-based Blackpink concert promoter, iMe, supports the nine-dash line. The promoter also apologized for displaying a map of the nine-dash line on its website, the Vietnamese news media reported.
The promoter’s Chinese website was unavailable on Friday. Blackpink’s Korean branch and production company, YG Entertainment, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Friday, Blackpink, a K-pop juggernaut, was scheduled to perform two shows at the National Stadium in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, at the end of July.
How is the view in China and Vietnam?
The ‘Barbie’ ban was widely discussed online in China this week, after the foreign ministry in Beijing on Tuesday criticized Vietnam for linking the South China Sea to ‘normal cultural exchange’. Many Chinese social media users were dismissive of the brawl, saying Hollywood would always choose China over Vietnam.
In contrast, a few prominent Vietnamese observers said in interviews this week that their government’s “Barbie” ban was consistent with previous efforts to protect Vietnamese sovereignty at sea, and partly reflected the Communist Party’s sensitivity to domestic criticism. on its China policy.
The “Barbie” ban was also successful, they added, as it got the international news media talking again about Vietnam’s territorial grievances.
Chau Doan reported from Hanoi, Vietnam. Li You contributed to research from Shanghai.
