In brief
Netflix has complied with a request from Vietnam's culture ministry to remove the Chinese drama series 'Shine On Me' after it featured a map displaying the controversial nine-dash line, which Vietnam disputes. The series is popular among audiences in China and other regions, but the portrayal of territorial claims led to its withdrawal from Netflix Vietnam. The incident highlights ongoing sensitivities surrounding territorial disputes in the South China Sea and reflects Vietnam's stance on cultural content affecting national sovereignty.
Netflix has pulled a Chinese drama series from its Vietnam platform after Hanoi objected to an episode featuring a map with contested territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The 27-episode romance drama Shine on Me includes images of the so-called nine-dash line which Vietnam has condemned as inaccurate and infringing upon national sovereignty.
China uses the line in its maps to demarcate its territorial claims in the South China Sea. Vietnam is one of many countries that object to these claims.
Vietnam's culture ministry issued a demand for the series to be removed on 3 January and gave Netflix 24 hours to comply.
A BBC check on Tuesday found it could no longer be viewed on Netflix's Vietnam platform.
The disputed map appears several times in episode 25 of Shine On Me, in a scene about China's solar power potential.
The show's main characters attend a lecture where a map of China which shows part of the nine-dash line is projected on an auditorium screen.
Shine On Me is popular within China and other territories, ranking among Netflix's Top 10 shows in Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam before it was pulled.
Beijing has not officially commented on the ban, although its state-run newspaper Global Times published an article urging Hanoi to separate cultural exchanges from [the] South China Sea issue.
In recent years, China has increasingly asserted its claims of sovereignty over several land parcels and their adjacent waters in the South China Sea, despite complaints from Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei.
China argues that various pieces of evidence, from pottery shards to navigational guides used by Chinese fishermen, back up its claims of historical sovereignty.
In 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague ruled against Chinese claims in the South China Sea, but Beijing did not recognize the judgment.
The dispute between Beijing and Hanoi particularly centers on the Paracel and Spratly island chains, which the nine-dash line loops around on Chinese maps.
In 2023, Vietnam also ordered Netflix to remove another Chinese drama, Flight to You, over a similar map.
Chinese dramas are not the only productions to be banned by Vietnam for featuring the nine-dash line. Authorities banned Warner Bros' Hollywood blockbuster Barbie in 2023, and DreamWorks' animated film Abominable in 2016, for similar reasons.
