After banning Barbie, Vietnam now orders Netflix to remove Chinese drama over controversial map

Vietnam has ordered Netflix to stop the streaming of a Chinese romantic drama in the country for portraying a map showing islands in the South China Sea as non-Vietnamese territory.

Vietnam’s Culture Ministry’s cinema department said in a statement that Netflix and FPT, the country’s largest information technology service, were ordered to remove the Flight to You for violating its sovereignty laws.

It comes just days after the government banned the distribution of the popular “Barbie” movie over the controversial map.

The Vietnamese government has objected to the portrayal of China’s “nine-dash line,” which extends Beijing’s territorial claims far into South China Sea waters that fall within areas claimed by Vietnam and other countries.

The "nine-dash line" is a complex and delicate matter concerning China and its neighbouring countries that represents Beijing’s assertion of sovereignty over a significant portion of the South China Sea, which is contested by Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

In 2016, an international court issued a ruling stating that the "nine-dash line" has no basis in law and the Philippines was granted an exclusive economic zone in a section of the disputed area claimed by China. However, China refused to accept the ruling and rejected its validity.

The cinema department said that it reviewed all 39 episodes of the series and found the controversial map featuring in nine episodes, reported state media Vietnam Express.

Episode 18 of the series even showed a character saying "one day this map will go to many places in the world", it said.

Even as FTP blurred the scenes showing the map, the department said the series has to be taken down as it is filled with inappropriate content that violates Vietnam’s maritime sovereignty.

It gave 24 hours from Monday to the companies to remove it and sought a report on compliance by Wednesday.

FPT said that it has removed the Chinese series from its platforms and the company is awaiting further instructions from authorities.

The Chinese series Flight to You is a romantic drama about relationships in an aviation company. The series, directed by Wang Zhi, was released in China in 2022.

The southeast Asian country also banned the release of the popular “Barbie” movie for the inclusion of a controversial marking on a map.

Vietnam also investigated iME, an event and entertainment company responsible for organizing a concert by the South Korean girl group Blackpink. The company allegedly displayed a map featuring the disputed “nine-dash line” on its website. The organisers issued an apology ahead of their scheduled concerts in Hanoi for displaying the map.

Last year, Sony’s action movie Uncharted was pulled over the same reason, as well as the DreamWorks animated film Abominable in 2019. Netflix also removed the Australian spy drama series Pine Gap from streaming services in 2021.