An image of China's nine-dash-line in the film "Flight to you" (Photo: Vietnam's Cinema Department)

On July 9 Vietnam’s Cinema Department issued dispatches asking Netflix Vietnam and FPT Telecom JSC to remove the Chinese film “Flight to You” because it contains images of China’s “nine-dash line” that violates Vietnam’s sovereignty. The watchdog said it found an image of the nine-dash line on maps in several episodes, accompanied by dialogue and subtitles saying "One day this map will go to many places in the world".

The two dispatches from the Department of Cinema clearly stated that including images of the “nine-dash line” with the accompanying dialogue and subtitles in the film was an illegal infringement of Vietnam's national sovereignty that violates the stipulations of Point D, Clause 1, Article 9 of the 2022 Law on Cinematography.

Viet Van, a member of the Film Accreditation Council of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said: "It’s obvious that China has a strategy of intentionally popularizing that illegal image. They repeat it in many movies, inserting images of the “nine-dash line” and attempting to make the absurdity familiar. This move is intentional and systematic. In many other films, including films co-produced by the US and China and post-produced by China, China also inserts the image of the nine-dash line."

Defense of national maritime sovereignty is strengthened on cyberspace

In its dispatches, the Department of Cinema asked the Netflix Company to remove the film “Flight to You” from www.netflix.com and the Netflix app and asked the FPT Telecom Joint Stock Company to remove the film from fptplay.vn and the FPT Play app. The relevant agencies have strictly complied with the authority’s request.

In early July the Cinema Department refused to license the American film “Barbie” because a map with an image of the "nine-dash line" appears in the film.

In 2018, the Chinese film “Operation Red Sea” was removed from cinemas in Vietnam because, in the final two minutes, the filmmaker had inserted inaccurate images and details about Vietnam's sovereignty over sea and islands.

National sovereignty is sacred and inviolable. The Vietnamese Party and State pursue a consistent policy of respecting independence, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, and interests of all countries in accordance with international law, and at the same time, asks countries to respect Vietnam’s independence, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, Constitution, and laws. Any violation will draw a strong response.

Hoang Viet, a member of the Research Committee on the Law of the Sea and Islands of the Vietnam Bar Federation, said: "On one hand, we must impose severe penalties for these violations. Many Chinese investors to Vietnam use a passport with an image of the nine-dash line. Many Vietnamese banks have refused to serve those investors. The same attitude should be applied to culture and cinema. Any violation of Vietnam's sea and island sovereignty is unacceptable regardless of economic benefits. On the other hand, we need to strengthen communications and education to make the public understand the importance of protecting national maritime sovereignty in cyberspace."

In the context of the 4^th Industrial Revolution, cyberspace has become a strategic space – “the fifth battlefield, the fifth domain of the world in addition to land, sea, airspace, and outer space”. This poses new demands for protecting national sovereignty. The increasing inclusion in films of images and misleading content about territorial borders and sovereignty of sea and islands requires timely detection and response. Only strong measures by the authorities and the engagement of the public can quash films that distort Vietnam’s history and violate national sovereignty.