HANOI - Vietnam has ordered an inspection into K-pop group Blackpink’s tour organiser’s website, ahead of a concert in Hanoi, over criticism from fans that it shows a map of the South China Sea with disputed boundaries.
The controversy follows Vietnam’s decision to ban the highly anticipated Warner Bros film Barbie over a scene allegedly featuring the “nine-dash line” used in Chinese maps to show Beijing’s claims over vast areas of the South China Sea, including swathes of what Vietnam considers its continental shelf.
Vietnam’s Culture Ministry late on Wednesday said it ordered the inspection of the website “to verify the suspicion that the company organising the Blackpink music night promoted the cow-tongue line”, which is the Vietnamese phrase to describe the U-shaped line.
The ministry did not immediately respond to questions about the possible outcome of the inspection, and it was unclear when it would announce its findings.
Chinese organiser iME Entertainment said in a statement that the incident was an “unfortunate misunderstanding”.
“The image of the map on the website does not represent the territory of any country, and we are aware of respecting the sovereignty and culture of all the countries” where iME has a presence.
“IME quickly reviewed and committed to replace the images that are not suitable for Vietnamese,” the statement added.
It also said it had sent a written explanation of the incident to the Hanoi department of culture and sports and other relevant authorities.
South Korean agency YG Entertainment, which manages Blackpink, had no immediate comment.
The organiser’s website was inaccessible on Thursday but a cached version last updated on Tuesday shows a vague nine-dash line that encompasses nearly the whole South China Sea.
Vietnam and China have long had overlapping territorial claims to a potentially energy-rich stretch of the waterway. The South-east Asian country has repeatedly accused Chinese vessels of violating its sovereignty.
Blackpink, a cornerstone of South Korea’s multibillion-dollar entertainment industry, is the latest to court trouble in Vietnam for depicting China’s controversial nine-dash line, which was repudiated in an international arbitration ruling by a court in The Hague in 2016. China refuses to recognise the ruling.
The Culture Ministry’s move followed complaints by Vietnamese Internet users who noticed the nine-dash line on the organiser’s website.
“Bought two tickets for me and my date. Then saw the cow-tongue, and quit. I am a patriot,” said Blackpink fan Tu Anh Xinh in a post on Facebook.
The world-famous K-pop girl group is due to perform in Vietnam for the first time on July 29 and July 30, having been granted a government licence that requested the organiser to comply with the government’s regulations on performing activities. REUTERS, AFP
