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Barbie’s Depiction of South China Sea Touches Raw Nerve in Southeast Asia

© Photo : video screenshotA screenshot from the trailer for the 'Barbie' movie directed by Greta Gerwig
A screenshot from the trailer for the 'Barbie' movie directed by Greta Gerwig - Sputnik India, 1920, 12.07.2023
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Barbie, a fantasy comedy movie based on famous doll character Barbie, will release in the Philippines on 19 July. It has been produced by Warner Bros.
The depiction of a map of the South China Sea in the new flick on 'Barbie' has touched a raw nerve in Southeast Asia for reportedly showing the ‘nine-dash line’, which Beijing says justifies its maritime claims in the region.

Territorial Disputes in South China Sea

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea. It has also rejected a 2016 ruling by an independent arbitral tribunal established under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The case at the UNCLOS tribunal was moved by Philippines over conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The Philippine Censor Board, or the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), on Wednesday gave a go-ahead for the Hollywood flick to be screened in the country, after two rounds of reviews and official consultations involving legal and foreign policy experts.

The Philippine authorities have asked the movie’s makers to “blur” the controversial map ahead of the official release next week. Concerns have been expressed in the Philippines that the depicted map violates the rights of Philippine fishermen in the West Philippine Sea.

The review in Philippines kicked off after Vietnam banned the movie over similar concerns this month.
The MTRCB said in a statement that it was “convinced” that the “cartoonish map” didn’t depict the nine-dash line.
“Instead, the map portrayed the route of the make-believe journey of Barbie from Barbie Land to the ‘real world’ as an integral part of the story,” the MTRCB statement said.
The Board said that it had “exhausted all possible resources” in arriving at a decision and it won’t hesitate to “sanction” filmmakers for depicting the “fictitious” nine-dash line in their material.

Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia Missing From the Barbie Map

In a separate letter to Philippine Senator Francis Tolentino, the censors said that the dashed lines, drawn in a “child-like manner” appeared at several locations around land masses identified as Europe, North America, South America, Africa and Asia.
The letter, which was shared with domestic media, said that only eight dashes had been found around the landmass identified as Asia.
“Moreover, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia are not visible on the map,” it said.
The MTRCB said that the depiction of the ‘nine-dash line’ was in “stark contrast” to maps in previous Hollywood flicks such as Abominable (2019) and Unchartered (2022), which have been banned in the southeast Asian nation.
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