Donald Rothwell, Australian National University
Vietnam’s response to the Barbie movie’s depiction of the South China Sea shows how sensitive these matters are in South East Asia, and especially in Vietnam.
As depicted in various official and unofficial Chinese maps, the line extends off the coast of China’s Hainan Island, and runs close to the coast of Vietnam, deep into the South China Sea, enclosing the Spratly Islands.
China made a formal diplomatic response to the UN claiming:
That ruling was clear-cut and conclusive, and immediately rejected by China. While the Philippines conclusively won the legal argument that the nine-dash line had no basis in modern international law or the law of the sea, China refused to respect the outcome of that case and continues to assert its South China Sea entitlements.
Maps now depict a country digitally and this has become contested, as highlighted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
