The Netflix series showing China’s nine-dash line violating Vietnam’s sovereignty has been opposed by the Vietnamese people in general and the Cinema Department in particular.
Vi Kien Thanh, director of the Cinema Department, made the remarks Tuesday, after learning “Put Your Head On My Shoulder”, a Chinese series streaming on Netflix, includes a scene featuring the nine-dash line in its ninth episode, when a female character reads out a weather forecast on TV.
Many Vietnamese netizens have expressed their anger over the issue.
“I will boycott this series,” a user commented in a Facebook group of youngsters with more than 390,000 members.
According to Thanh, since the series is streaming online, the department cannot control or censor its content.
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A screenshot of “Put Your Head On My Shoulder” on Netflix. |
The Ministry of Information and Communications’ Department of Broadcasting, Television and Electronic
Information also said it would work with the streaming platform to tackle the issue. The department in July sent a document to Netflix requesting it to comply with Vietnamese law as to broadcasting television services in the country.
Previously, Netflix also caused community backlash after the ancient town of Hoi An was dubbed a Chinese landmark in American series “Madam Secretary”.
Last year, Hollywood animation “Abominable” was removed from Vietnamese cinemas after viewers spotted China’s nine-dash line representing China’s fraudulent East Sea claim in flagrant violation of Vietnamese sovereignty over it waters.
The nine-dash line, claiming 90 percent of the 3.5-million-square-kilometer East Sea, known internationally as the South China Sea, has met strong opposition from the international community.
“Put Your Head On My Shoulder” was aired in 2019 before hitting the international streaming platform.