|
The U-shaped line is a feature used on Chinese
maps to illustrate its claims over vast expanses of the
resource-rich South China Sea, including large swathes of what
Vietnam regards as its continental shelf, where it has awarded
oil concessions.
Last week, sports network ESPN faced criticism of its coverage
of a row between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and
China after using a map that featured the line.
China and Vietnam have been locked in a standoff since China
dispatched a vessel to conduct an energy survey in waters
controlled by Vietnam in early July.
"We will revoke (the film's licence)," Ta Quang Dong, deputy
minister of culture, sports and tourism, was quoted as saying by
the Thanh Nien newspaper.
The ministry is in charge of licensing and censoring foreign
films.
"Abominable", about a Chinese girl who discovers a yeti living
on her roof, was jointly produced by Shanghai-based Pearl Studio
and Comcast-owned DreamWorks Animation and was first shown in
Vietnamese cinemas on Oct. 4.
The film, which was being marketed in Vietnam as "Everest: The
Little Yeti" was removed from cinemas on Sunday after images of
the scene with the offending map were shared widely on social
media.
A spokeswoman for CJ CGV Vietnam, Vietnam's largest cinema chain
and a unit of South Korea's CJ CGV, declined to comment.
A receptionist at the state-run National Cinema Center in Hanoi
said the culture ministry had issued an order requiring all
cinemas to stop showing the film because of the map scene.
Calls to Nguyen Thu Ha, the head of the culture ministry's
cinema department, went unanswered on Monday. The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
At the National Cinema Center in Hanoi, workers could be seen
taking down posters for the film late on Monday.
"I'd planned to watch this film but after having heard about
that maritime sovereignty issue, I think I shouldn't,"
Hanoi-based student and cinema fan Phan Thi Nhi Ha told Reuters
outside the center.
In August, police broke up a brief protest outside the Chinese
embassy in Hanoi over the survey vessel.
Vietnam has repeatedly accused the vessel and its escorts of
violating its sovereignty and has demanded that China remove its
ships from the area.
(Reporting by Khanh Vu and Phuong Nguyen; Additional reporting
by Nguyen Tien Thinh; Editing by Karishma Singh and Jason Neely)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
