Netflix Withdraws Chinese Drama in Vietnam Over Nine-Dash Line Map

(Bloomberg) — Vietnam ordered Netflix to remove Chinese television series Shine on Me from its streaming platform in the country over images depicting a map used by Beijing to protect disputed territorial claims in the South China Sea.

“The inspection detected scenes depicting the ‘nine-lined’ map, which misrepresents and violates Vietnam’s national sovereignty,” the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Cinema Department said in a statement on Sunday. he said.

“We have removed Shine On Me from Netflix in Vietnam following a written request from the government,” the streaming service said in a statement.

The order, which underlines Vietnam’s sensitivity to Chinese claims that have led to naval clashes, was given despite the map only appearing in a university lecture scene in the dramatic series. In 2023, Netflix was forced to stop offering another Chinese romantic drama, Flight to You; However, a similar map in this series was blurred when distributed in the country.

The Southeast Asian country previously banned the Barbie movie from cinemas over a scene showing a map and investigated Chinese milk tea brand Chagee and a children’s toys brand for using map images.

According to the ministry, which gave the entertainment giant 24 hours to remove the show, the images appear in the 25th episode of the series. Authorities reclassified the 27-episode series as category C, which banned the series from distribution on the grounds that it violated Vietnam’s cinema law. It was no longer available to view online at 11 a.m. Hanoi time on Monday.

China claims more than 80 percent of the South China Sea and backs this up with a 1947 map showing vague lines (nine dashes) extending to a point about 1,100 miles (1,770 kilometers) south of Hainan Island. Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan claim parts of the same sea area, and the various parties sometimes argue over where the boundaries fall.

–With help from Sohee Kim and Ramsey Al-Rikabi.

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